Shloka 45
रथैश्व कुण्जरैश्वैव न प्राज़्ायत किड्चन । मरे हुए घोड़ों, पैदलों, रथों और हाथियोंसे पट जानेके कारण वहाँकी ऊँची-नीची भूमिका कुछ पता नहीं लगता था ।। नापि स्वे न परे योधा: प्राज्ञायन्त परस्परम्
rathaiś ca kuñjaraiś caiva na prājñāyata kiñcana | na api sve na pare yodhāḥ prājñāyanta parasparam ||
Sañjaya said: With chariots and elephants strewn everywhere, nothing could be made out clearly. The ground’s rises and hollows were indistinguishable, covered over by the fallen—dead horses, foot-soldiers, chariots, and elephants. In that confusion, warriors could not recognize even their own side or the enemy; they failed to identify one another amid the slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and human cost of war: violence breeds such overwhelming chaos that even basic discernment—friend versus foe, the very shape of the earth—collapses. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven conflict destroys clarity, order, and humane recognition.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield so densely covered with fallen horses, infantry, chariots, and elephants that the terrain cannot be distinguished. The fighting has become so confused that warriors cannot recognize their own allies or identify enemies, losing mutual recognition amid the carnage.