Shloka 56
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
दूरं न शक्यं तत्रासीद् गन्तुमश्वेन केनचित् । साथ्चारोहैर्हतैरश्वैरावते वसुधातले,सवारोंसहित घोड़ोंकी लाशोंसे पटे हुए भूतलपर किसीके लिये भी घोड़ेद्वारा दूरतक जाना असम्भव हो गया था
dūraṁ na śakyaṁ tatrāsīd gantum aśvena kenacit | sāśvārūḍhair hatair aśvair āvṛte vasudhātale ||
Sañjaya said: There, it became impossible for anyone to go far on horseback, for the surface of the earth was covered over with slain horses and their riders. The battlefield’s congestion and carnage turned movement itself into a hardship, showing how war destroys not only warriors but also the very means of order, passage, and control.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tangible consequences of violence: war does not merely decide victory or defeat; it collapses basic order and mobility, turning the earth itself into an obstacle strewn with the dead. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven conflict multiplies suffering beyond the intended targets.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield so choked with the bodies of slain horses and their mounted riders that no one can ride far; movement by horse becomes practically impossible due to the mass of corpses covering the ground.