Shloka 443
प्रमथिष्यामि गात्राणि शिरांसि च शितै: शरै: । “मधुसूदन! आज पैने बाणोंसे मैं अभिमन्युके समस्त शत्रुओंके शरीरों और मस्तकोंको मथ डालूँगा
pramathiṣyāmi gātrāṇi śirāṃsi ca śitaiḥ śaraiḥ |
Sañjaya said: “With my razor-sharp arrows I shall crush the limbs and sever the heads.” The line conveys the escalating ferocity of the battlefield, where martial prowess is asserted through vows of destruction, highlighting the ethical tension in war between duty as a warrior and the dehumanizing momentum of violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral strain of warfare: even when framed as kṣatriya-duty, the language of crushing bodies and heads exposes how quickly duty can slide into ruthless destructiveness, inviting reflection on restraint, intention, and the cost of violence.
In Sañjaya’s battlefield narration, a warrior’s intent is voiced as a fierce declaration of imminent slaughter—using sharp arrows to maim and behead—signaling an intensification of combat and the grim tone of the Karṇa Parva war episodes.