Shloka 22
ततस्तेषां शरीरैश्व॒ शरीरावयवैश्व सः । संतस्तार क्षितिं क्षिप्रं कुशै्वेदिमिवाध्वरे,जैसे यज्ञमें वेदीके ऊपर कुश बिछाये जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार अभिमन्युने तुरंत ही शत्रुओंके शरीरों तथा विभिन्न अवयवोंके द्वारा सारी रणभूमिको पाट दिया
tatas teṣāṃ śarīraiś ca śarīrāvayavaiś ca saḥ | saṃtastāra kṣitiṃ kṣipraṃ kuśair vedim ivādhvare ||
Sañjaya said: Then he swiftly covered the ground with their bodies and severed limbs—so that the battlefield was spread over as an altar is strewn with kuśa grass in a sacrifice. The simile underscores how the violence of war can mimic the outward forms of ritual, while remaining morally grave in its human cost.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses sacrificial imagery to highlight a moral tension: war can resemble ritual in its ordered metaphors, yet it produces real human suffering. It invites reflection on dharma in conflict—how heroic action and grim consequences coexist, and why ethical discernment is necessary even amid sanctioned warfare.
Sañjaya describes Abhimanyu’s fierce combat: he has struck down many enemies so rapidly that the ground is covered with their bodies and severed limbs, compared to how kuśa grass is spread over an altar during a sacrifice.