Shloka 21
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
गतासुभिरमित्रघ्न संवृता रणभूमय: । 'शत्रुसूदन! बाण, शक्ति, ऋष्टि, पट्टिश, लोहमय परिघ, भयंकर लोहनिर्मित कुन्त और फरसोंसे मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियोंके बहुसंख्यक शरीर छिलन्न-भिन्न होकर खूनसे लथपथ और प्राणशून्य हो गये हैं और उनके द्वारा रणभूमि आच्छादित दिखायी देती है || १९-२० ई || बाहुभिश्वन्दनादिग्धै: साड्रदैहेमभूषितै:
sañjaya uvāca |
gatāsubhir amitraghna saṃvṛtā raṇabhūmayaḥ |
śatrusūdana bāṇa-śakti-ṛṣṭi-paṭṭiśa-lohamaya-parigha-bhayaṅkara-lohanirmita-kunta-paraśubhiḥ manuṣya-aśva-gaja-bahusaṅkhyakāni śarīrāṇi chinna-bhinnāni rudhira-liptāni prāṇaśūnyāni ca jāyante; taiś ca raṇabhūmir ācchāditā dṛśyate ||
bāhubhiś chandanādigdhais sārdra-deha-hemabhūṣitaiḥ ||
Sanjaya said: O slayer of foes, the battlefields are covered over with the lifeless. O destroyer of enemies, by arrows, spears, lances, axes, iron clubs, dreadful iron javelins, and battle-axes, countless bodies of men, horses, and elephants have been hacked and shattered, drenched in blood and bereft of breath; and by them the ground of battle appears wholly carpeted. Arms smeared with sandal-paste and bodies adorned with gold ornaments now lie fallen—an image of splendor overturned into ruin, exposing the moral cost of war even amid heroic display.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when framed as kṣatriya duty, war culminates in the stark sameness of death: ornamented bodies and heroic weapons alike end in lifeless ruin. The verse underscores the ethical gravity of violence by making the battlefield’s horror impossible to ignore.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that the battlefield is blanketed with the dead—men, horses, and elephants—mutilated by many kinds of weapons. The description intensifies the scene’s devastation and prepares for the continuing account of the day’s fighting.