Shloka 3936
कर्णस्य दानप्रतिज्ञा–शल्योपदेश–वाक्ययुद्धम्
Karna’s Gift-Vows, Shalya’s Counsel, and the Battle of Words
तथा केशग्रहश्चोग्रो बाहुयुद्धं च भैरवम् । भारत! वहाँ योद्धाओंमें बहुत बड़ा मुष्टियुद्ध हो रहा था। साथ ही भयंकर केशग्रहण और भयानक बाहुयुद्ध भी चालू था
tathā keśagrahaś cogro bāhuyuddhaṃ ca bhairavam | bhārata! tatra yoddhāsu bahu mahān muṣṭiyuddho 'bhavat | sārdhaṃ ca bhīṣaṇaḥ keśagrahaṇaḥ bhayānakaṃ ca bāhuyuddham api pravṛttam āsīt |
Sañjaya said: “O Bhārata, there the warriors were locked in a great contest of fists. Along with it, there arose fierce hair-grappling and dreadful wrestling by the arms—combat so close that it stripped the battle of distance and dignity, revealing the raw, brutal face of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war can collapse from formal, rule-bound combat into brutal hand-to-hand struggle. It implicitly warns that once violence is unleashed, it tends to intensify and degrade human restraint, challenging the ethical ideals that warriors claim to uphold.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battle has reached extremely close quarters: warriors are fighting with fists, grabbing one another by the hair, and grappling by the arms—signs of chaotic, desperate combat on the field.