Shloka 413
कर्णस्य दानप्रतिज्ञा–शल्योपदेश–वाक्ययुद्धम्
Karna’s Gift-Vows, Shalya’s Counsel, and the Battle of Words
कबन्धान्युत्थितानि स्यु: शतशो5थ सहस्रश: । इस प्रकार जब सभी योद्धा युद्धमें लगे थे और तुमुल संग्राम चल रहा था, उस समय सैकड़ों और हजारों कबन्ध (धड़) उठ खड़े हुए थे
kabandhāny utthitāni syuḥ śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ |
Sañjaya said: In that tumult of battle, as all the warriors were fully engaged, hundreds—indeed thousands—of headless trunks rose up, a grim sign of the war’s unchecked violence and the terrible cost paid by embodied life when dharma is eclipsed by fury.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the dehumanizing momentum of war: when conflict escalates beyond restraint, the battlefield becomes a place where life is reduced to severed bodies and terrifying spectacle—prompting reflection on the ethical gravity of violence and the need for dharmic restraint.
Sañjaya describes the height of the fighting: amid the roaring, chaotic combat, so many warriors are cut down that headless trunks are seen rising and moving about—an intense visual meant to convey the scale of slaughter.