Shloka 15
धृतराष्ट्र-संजय-संवादः — दुर्योधनस्य ह्रदप्रवेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Saṃjaya Dialogue: Duryodhana’s Entry into the Lake
कबन्धैरुत्थितैश्किन्नै्न॑त्यद्धिश्चापरैर्युधि । क्रव्यादगणसंछन्ना घोरा भूत् पृथिवी विभो
kabandhair utthitaiś chinnaiḥ atyaddhiś cāparair yudhi | kravyādagaṇasaṃchannā ghorā bhūt pṛthivī vibho ||
Sañjaya said: “On the battlefield, the earth became dreadful—covered over by swarms of flesh-eating creatures—because of the severed and headless trunks that had risen up, and by other mangled bodies as well, O mighty one. The scene proclaimed the moral horror of war: when dharma collapses into slaughter, even the ground itself seems to bear the weight of adharma.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical cost of war: when conflict turns into indiscriminate slaughter, the world itself appears defiled and terrifying, reminding the listener that adharma manifests not only in actions but in the very atmosphere of society.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the gruesome state of the battlefield—severed, headless bodies and other mutilated remains, with carrion-eaters swarming—conveying the intensity and devastation of the fighting in the Śalya Parva.