Shloka 69
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
भग्नाक्षकूबरान् कांश्रचिदू भग्नचक्रांश्व भारत । विपताकध्वजांश्वान्याज्छिन्नेषादण्डबन्धुरान्
sañjaya uvāca | bhagnākṣakūbarān kāṃścid u bhagnacakrāṃś ca bhārata | vipaṭākadhvajāṃś cānyān chinnēṣādaṇḍabandhurān, bharatanandana ||
Sañjaya said: O Bhārata, some chariots had their axles and yokes shattered; others had their wheels broken to pieces. Still others, O delight of the Bharatas, had their banners and standards torn down, and their shafts and pole-fasteners severed—signs of the battlefield’s relentless destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of worldly power and martial display: even the finest war-machines—symbols of status and strength—are quickly reduced to wreckage. It implicitly points to impermanence and the limits of pride amid the inexorable violence of war.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene in Karṇa Parva: numerous chariots have been disabled—axles and yokes broken, wheels shattered, banners and standards torn, and key structural poles and bindings severed—indicating intense fighting and heavy losses.