Shloka 3
त॑ भग्नसक्थं राजेन्द्र कृच्छुप्राणमचेतसम् । वमन्तं रुचिरं वक्त्रादपश्यन् वसुधातले
taṁ bhagnasakthaṁ rājendra kṛcchuprāṇam acetasaṁ | vamantaṁ ruciraṁ vaktrād apaśyan vasudhātale ||
Sanjaya said: “O king of kings, they saw him lying on the ground—his thigh broken, his breathing laboured and faint, his senses clouded—vomiting from his handsome mouth.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark moral and existential cost of adharma-driven conflict: royal power and pride culminate in bodily ruin and helplessness, reminding the listener that violence rebounds as suffering and that worldly splendour cannot shield one from the consequences of war.
Sanjaya reports to the king that the fallen warrior is seen on the ground with a shattered thigh, barely breathing and not fully conscious, vomiting—an immediate, graphic depiction of the battlefield’s aftermath that sets the grim tone for the events leading into the Sauptika episode.