Shloka 120
यक्षरक्ष:समाकीर्णे रथाश्वद्धिपदारुणे
yakṣarakṣaḥ-samākīrṇe rathāśvaddhipadāruṇe
Sañjaya said: The scene was crowded with yakṣas and rākṣasas, and made dreadful by the trampling of chariots, horses, and elephants—an ominous vision of the battlefield’s moral collapse into nightmarish violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war—especially the nocturnal, lawless slaughter of the Sauptika episode—invites a descent into fear, cruelty, and ‘inhuman’ forces, symbolized by yakṣas and rākṣasas, warning that adharma makes the world itself appear monstrous.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield atmosphere as terrifying: it seems crowded with supernatural beings, while the ground is churned and made dreadful by the trampling of chariots, horses, and elephants—setting the tone for the grim events of the night.