Shloka 64
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
हीनांश्नाभरणैश्नेव खलीनैश्व विवर्जितान् । चामरैश्न कुथाभिश्न तूणीरैः पतितैरपि
hīnān aśnābharaṇaiś caiva khalīnaiś ca vivarjitān | cāmaraiś ca kuthābhiś ca tūṇīraiḥ patitair api ||
Sañjaya said: We saw many fine horses wandering about the battlefield in confusion—stripped of their chest-armour and trappings, their head-bands torn to pieces, their ornaments of gold, silver, and bronze ruined; their other harness broken, the bridle fallen from their mouths; with fly-whisks, saddle-cloths, and even quivers lying cast down. The heroic riders who once made them splendid in war had already been slain—so the horses, bereft of guidance, roamed in a pitiable state amid the wreckage of battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the collateral suffering and disorder produced by war: even noble animals become helpless when human warriors fall. It implicitly warns that violence shatters not only combatants but the entire moral and material order surrounding them.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra what he sees on the battlefield: riderless horses, their armour and ornaments destroyed and their equipment fallen, wandering in confusion because their heroic riders have been killed.