Shloka 47
कर्णनिधनश्रवणम् — Hearing of Karṇa’s Fall and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament
मालवा मद्रकाश्रैव द्राविडाश्नोग्रकर्मिण: । यौधेयाश्व ललित्थाशक्ष क्षुद्रका श्चाप्पुशीनरा:,मालव, मद्रक, भयंकर कर्म करनेवाले द्राविड, यौधेय, ललित्थ, क्षुद्रक, उशीनर, मावेल्लक, तुण्डिकेर, सावित्रीपुत्र, प्राच्य, उदीच्य, प्रतीच्य और दाक्षिणात्य, पैदलसमूह, दस लाख घोड़े, रथोंके समूह और बड़े-बड़े गजराज अर्जुनके हाथसे मारे गये हैं
sañjaya uvāca |
mālavā madrakāś caiva drāviḍāś cogra-karmiṇaḥ |
yaudheyāś ca lalitthāś ca kṣudrakāś cāpi uśīnarāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The Mālavas and Madrakas, and the Drāviḍas of fierce deeds; the Yaudheyas and Lalitthas, the Kṣudrakas and the Uśīnaras—these and other regional forces were cut down in the press of battle. The report underscores the vast, multi-kingdom scale of the war and the terrible cost of martial ambition, where entire peoples are swept into destruction by the prowess of a single champion.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war consumes not only individual warriors but entire communities. Ethically, it points to the far-reaching consequences of political rivalry and kṣatriya ambition: countless regional peoples are drawn into a conflict whose scale overwhelms ordinary moral accounting.
Sañjaya lists various peoples and contingents present in the battle and indicates their involvement and devastation in the fighting. It functions as a battlefield catalogue, emphasizing the breadth of forces engaged and the intensity of the slaughter.