Shloka 8
हस्तानामुत्तमाड़ानां कार्मुकाणां च भारत । छत्राणां चापविद्धानां चामराणां च संचयै:
hastānām uttamāḍānāṁ kārmukāṇāṁ ca bhārata | chatrāṇāṁ cāpaviddhānāṁ cāmarāṇāṁ ca saṁcayaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, there were heaps and piles of severed hands, of splendid bows, and of umbrellas cast away, along with clusters of fly-whisks—clear signs of the battle’s crushing violence and the sudden fall of royal dignity amid slaughter.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the impermanence of worldly power: royal emblems like umbrellas and fly-whisks, and even the warrior’s prized bow, become scattered debris in war. It implicitly warns that status and splendor collapse before the harsh consequences of violence.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield aftermath to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: piles of severed hands and discarded or fallen weapons and royal insignia (bows, parasols, fly-whisks) lie strewn about, conveying the scale of carnage and the downfall of many high-born warriors.