Shloka 32
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
शतघ्नीनां सचक्राणां भुजानां चोरुभि: सह । कण्ठसूत्राज़दानां च केयूराणां च मारिष
śataghnīnāṃ sacakrāṇāṃ bhujānāṃ corubhiḥ saha | kaṇṭhasūtrāz-dānāṃ ca keyūrāṇāṃ ca māriṣa
Sañjaya said: “O revered one, there were also śataghnīs and wheeled engines, and severed arms together with thighs—along with neck-threads and armlets. Thus the battlefield was strewn with the broken ornaments and dismembered limbs of warriors, bearing witness to the terrible cost of this unrighteous slaughter.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim reality of war: not only bodies but also the symbols of status and identity (ornaments) are reduced to debris. It implicitly warns that violence strips away human dignity and reveals the impermanence of worldly distinctions.
Sanjaya is describing the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, listing weapons and the scattered remains of warriors—severed limbs and fallen ornaments—emphasizing the scale and horror of the fighting in the Karṇa Parva.