Shloka 20
Jayadrathasya varaprāptiḥ (जयद्रथस्य वरप्राप्तिः) — Jayadratha’s boon and the restraint of the Pāṇḍava advance
निहतै: क्षत्रियैरश्वेर्वरिणैश्व विशाम्पते । अगम्यरूपा पृथिवी क्षणेनासीत् सुदारुणा,आवश्यक सामग्री, बैठक, ईषादण्ड, बन्धुर, अक्ष, पहिए और जूए चूर-चूर और टुकड़े- टुकड़े होकर गिरे थे। शक्ति, धनुष, खड़्ग, गिरे हुए विशाल ध्वज, ढाल और बाण भी छिज्न- भिन्न होकर सब ओर बिखरे पड़े थे। प्रजानाथ! बहुत-से क्षत्रिय, घोड़े और हाथी भी मारे गये थे। इन सबके कारण वहाँकी भूमि क्षणभरमें अत्यन्त भयंकर और अगम्य हो गयी थी
sañjaya uvāca |
nihatyaiḥ kṣatriyair aśvair variṇaiś ca viśāmpate |
agamyārūpā pṛthivī kṣaṇenāsīt sudāruṇā ||
Sañjaya said: “O lord of the people, when kṣatriya warriors were slain and horses and mighty elephants fell, the earth in an instant became dreadful—its very form turned impassable. The battlefield lay strewn with shattered chariot-gear—seats, poles, axles, wheels, and yokes—fallen in splinters and fragments. Spears, bows, swords, great banners cast down, shields, and arrows too were broken and scattered on every side. O ruler of men, many kṣatriyas, horses, and elephants were killed; and for this the ground there became, in a moment, exceedingly terrible and hard to traverse.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the immediate, tangible consequences of mass violence: when battle escalates, the very earth becomes ‘impassable’—a poetic way to show how social order and human movement collapse under slaughter. It invites reflection on restraint and responsibility within kṣatriya-dharma.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that many warriors (and battlefield animals like horses, and in context elephants) have been killed, and the ground is quickly transformed into a horrific, obstructed terrain—choked with the aftermath of combat.