Shloka 13
वीरबाहुविमृष्टाश्च योधेषु च गजेषु च । राशय: प्रत्यदृश्यन्त वाससां नेजनेष्विव,जैसे कपड़े धोनेके घाटोंपर ढेर-के-ढेर वस्त्र दिखायी देते हैं, उसी प्रकार योद्धाओं और हाथियोंपर वीरोंकी भुजाओंद्वारा छोड़े गये अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंकी राशियाँ दिखायी देती थीं
vīrabāhu-vimṛṣṭāś ca yodheṣu ca gajeṣu ca | rāśayaḥ pratyadṛśyanta vāsasāṃ nejaneṣv iva ||
Sañjaya said: On the bodies of warriors and elephants there appeared heaps of weapons and missiles, cast off by the mighty arms of heroes—like piles of garments seen at the washing-ghāts. The image underscores the battle’s relentless intensity, where human strength and martial skill produce not glory alone but overwhelming accumulation of instruments of harm.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Through a stark simile—heaps of weapons like heaps of laundry—the verse highlights how war rapidly multiplies instruments of injury, inviting reflection on the moral and human cost that accompanies martial prowess.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene: warriors and elephants are covered with, and surrounded by, piles of weapons and missiles thrown by powerful fighters, so numerous that they look like stacked clothes at a washing place.