Shloka 73
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 94: Sātyaki–Sudarśana Yuddha (सात्यकि–सुदर्शन युद्ध)
निर्भग्न इव वातेन कर्णिकारो हिमात्यये । शेते सम निहतो भूमौ काम्बोजास्तरणोचित:
nirbhagna iva vātena karṇikāro himātyaye | śete sama nihato bhūmau kāmbojāstaraṇocitaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Like a karṇikāra tree snapped by the wind at the end of winter, he lay slain, stretched evenly upon the ground—one who was fit to be laid upon a Kāmboja blanket.” The image declares how war levels all: even the eminent and richly adorned are brought to the same earth, and worldly honor and comfort cannot shield one from the moral and mortal consequences of battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of embodied life and the leveling power of death in war: status and luxury (symbolized by a Kāmboja blanket) cannot prevent one’s fall to the earth. It implicitly warns against pride and attachment to external honors amid the ethical gravity of violence.
Sañjaya describes a warrior lying dead on the battlefield, using a vivid simile: like a karṇikāra tree broken by wind when winter ends, the slain man lies stretched on the ground—someone who, in life, would have been worthy of fine bedding and comfort.