Shloka 52
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
केशाकेशि समालग्ना न शेकुश्रैष्टितुं नरा: । अन्योन्यमश्चपृष्ठे भ्यो विकर्षन्तो महाबला:,बहुत-से मनुष्य परस्पर केश पकड़कर इतने सट गये थे कि कोई चेष्टा नहीं कर पाते थे। कितने ही महाबली योद्धा एक-दूसरेको घोड़ोंकी पीठोंसे खींच रहे थे
keśākeśi samālagnā na śekuḥ ceṣṭituṁ narāḥ | anyonyam aśvapṛṣṭhebhyo vikarṣantaḥ mahābalāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Many men became locked together, hair grasping hair, so tightly that they were unable even to move. And many mighty warriors, grappling with one another, dragged their opponents down from the backs of their horses—showing how the battle had sunk into brutal, close-quarters struggle where strength and rage overpowered restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war can degrade into uncontrolled, bodily violence where self-mastery and restraint collapse; it implicitly warns that even valor can be swallowed by rage and confusion when dharma is obscured by the frenzy of battle.
Sañjaya describes intense hand-to-hand fighting: warriors seize each other by the hair, becoming so entangled they cannot move, while powerful fighters pull opponents down from horseback, indicating a chaotic melee rather than orderly chariot warfare.