Shloka 22
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
ऊरुभिश्न नरेन्द्राणां विनिकृत्तैर्महाहवे । हस्तिहस्तोपमैरन्यै: संवृतं तद् रणाड्रणम्,उस महासमरमें कटी हुई नरेशोंकी जाँघें हाथीकी सूँड़ोंके समान प्रतीत होती थीं। उनके द्वारा वह सारा समरांगण पट गया था
ūrubhiś ca narendrāṇāṁ vinikṛttair mahāhave | hastihastopamair anyaiḥ saṁvṛtaṁ tad raṇāṅgaṇam ||
Sañjaya said: In that great battle, the battlefield was covered over with the severed thighs of kings—some resembling the trunks of elephants—so that the whole arena of war appeared choked and strewn with those dreadful remnants. The description underscores the terrible cost of kṣatriya conflict and the grim, dehumanizing aftermath of unchecked violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a stark reminder of the catastrophic human cost of war: even kings are reduced to mutilated remains. It implicitly warns that power and status do not protect one from the consequences of violence, and it frames the battle’s outcome as morally and emotionally devastating.
Sañjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the horrific scene on the battlefield: severed thighs of fallen rulers lie scattered, some compared to elephant trunks, and the ground is so covered that the war-arena appears filled and blocked by them.