Shloka 28

Devanagari script

सुनासाननकेशान्तैरब्रणैश्वारुकुण्डलै: । संदष्टौष् पुटै: क्रोधात्‌ क्षरद्धि: शोणितं बहु,जिनमें सुन्दर नासिका, सुन्दर मुख और सुन्दर केशान्त भागकी अद्भुत शोभा हो रही थी, जिनमें फोड़े-फुंसी या घावके चिह्न नहीं थे, जो मनोहर कुण्डलोंसे प्रकाशित हो रहे थे, जिनके ओषछ्ठपुट क्रोधके कारण दाँतों तले दबे हुए थे, जो अधिकाधिक रक्तकी धारा बहा रहे थे, जिनके ऊपर मनोहर मुकुट और पगड़ीकी शोभा होती थी, जो मणिरत्नमय आभूषणोंसे विभूषित थे, जिनकी प्रभा सूर्य और चन्द्रमाके समान जान पड़ती थी, जो बिना नालके प्रफुल्ल कमलके समान प्रतीत होते थे, जो समय-समयपर हित एवं प्रियकी बातें बताते थे, जिनकी संख्या बहुत अधिक थी तथा जो पवित्र सुगन्धसे सुवासित थे, शत्रुओंके उन मस्तकोंद्वारा अभिमन्युने वहाँकी सारी पृथ्वीको पाट दिया

Transliteration

sunāsānanakeśāntair abraṇaiś cārukuṇḍalaiḥ | saṃdaṣṭauṣṭhaputaiḥ krodhāt kṣaradbhiḥ śoṇitaṃ bahu ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Their heads—graced with beautiful noses, faces, and hairlines, unscarred by boils or wounds, and adorned with charming earrings—had their lips clenched beneath the bite of rage, while much blood streamed forth. With such enemy heads, Abhimanyu there covered the earth, a grim testimony to the fury and cost of battle.

Word by Word

सु-नासानन-केशान्तैःwith beautiful noses, faces, and hair-ends

अ-व्रणैःwithout wounds/scars

चारु-कुण्डलैःwith lovely earrings

संदष्ट-ओष्ठ-पुटैःwith lips pressed/bitten together

क्रोधात्from anger

क्षरद्भिःshedding/oozing

शोणितम्blood

बहुmuch

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Abhimanyu

enemy warriors (unnamed)

kuṇḍala (earrings)

śoṇita (blood)

earth/ground (pṛthivī, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the tragic cost of war: even those endowed with beauty and refinement are reduced to lifeless trophies. It implicitly warns that anger (krodha) and battlefield duty (kṣatriya-dharma) can culminate in dehumanizing destruction, inviting reflection on restraint and the moral weight of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the aftermath of Abhimanyu’s fighting: he has felled many enemies, and their severed heads—still adorned with earrings and showing signs of rage—bleed profusely, so numerous that they seem to cover the ground.