Shloka 34
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
शड्कुभिदारिता: केचित् सम्भिन्नाश्न परश्वधै:,कुछ मनुष्य बाणोंसे विदीर्ण होकर पड़े थे, कितने ही फरसोंसे छिन्न-भिन्न हो रहे थे, कितनोंको हाथियोंने मसल डाला था, कितने ही घोड़ोंकी टापसे कुचल गये थे, कितनोंके शरीर रथके पहियोंसे कट गये थे और कितने ही कूबरोंसे काट डाले गये थे
śaṅkubhidāritāḥ kecit sambhinnāś ca paraśvadhaiḥ | kecin manuṣyā bāṇair vidīrṇā nipetuḥ, kecid paraśvadhaiś chinna-bhinnā abhavan, kecid hastibhir mṛditāḥ, kecid aśvatāpaiḥ kuṭṭitāḥ, kecid rathacakraiḥ kāyāḥ kṛttāḥ, kecit kūbaraiś chinnāḥ ||
Sañjaya reports the battlefield’s grim spectacle: some warriors lay pierced through by sharp stakes, others were hacked apart by axes; some were crushed under elephants, others trampled by horses’ hooves. Many bodies were severed by chariot wheels, and others were cut down by the chariot’s pole and fittings. The scene underscores the moral cost of war—how, once violence is unleashed, human bodies become mere objects in the machinery of battle.
संजय उवाच