Shloka 6.54.9
वज्रदंष्ट्रवधः — The Slaying of Vajradaṃṣṭra (Angada’s Duel)
प्रभिन्नशिरसःकेचिछचिन्नैःपादैश्चबाहुभिः ।शस्स्रैरर्दितदेहाभ्यरुधिरेणसमुक्षिताः ।।6.54.8।।हरयोराक्षसाश्चैवशेरतेगांसमाश्रिताः ।कङ्कगृध्रवळैराढ्याश्चगोमायुगलसङ्कुलाः ।।6.54.9।।
harayo rākṣasāś caiva śerate gāṃ samāśritāḥ |
kaṅka-gṛdhra-vaḷair āḍhyāś ca gomāyu-gala-saṅkulāḥ ||6.54.9||
Monkeys and rākṣasas alike lay strewn upon the ground, while the field swarmed with jackals and was crowded with crows and vultures, feeding upon the fallen.
There lay strewn some monkeys and Rakshasas also with severed heads, broken feet, with many weapons mangled with bodies, bathed in blood, arms and feet looped to necks devolving as prey to buzzards, vultures and crows surrounded.
It underscores the impartiality of death in war: when dharma collapses into violence, victors and vanquished alike can become the same—mere bodies on the earth—prompting reflection on restraint, responsibility, and the grave cost of adharma-driven conflict.
After intense fighting, the narrator describes the battlefield littered with fallen vanaras and rākṣasas, now attracting scavenger birds and jackals.
No single hero’s virtue is foregrounded here; instead, the verse functions as a moral tableau emphasizing sobriety and detachment (vairāgya-like reflection) about the consequences of war.