Shloka 34
Adhyāya 74 (Book 6, Bhīṣma-parva): Bhīma–Duryodhana re-engagement and afternoon escalation
शराहता भिन्नदेहा बद्धयोक्त्रा हयोत्तमा: | युगानि पर्यकर्षन्त तत्र तत्र सम भारत,भारत! कितने ही उत्तम घोड़ोंके शरीर बाणोंसे आहत होकर क्षत-विक्षत हो गये थे, तो भी रथके साथ रस्सीमें बँधे हुए थे, इसलिये रथके जूओंको इधर-उधर खींचते रहते थे
śarāhatā bhinnadehā baddhayoktrā hayottamāḥ | yugāni paryakarṣanta tatra tatra sma bhārata ||
Sañjaya dijo: Aunque atravesados por flechas y con el cuerpo desgarrado, los mejores caballos—todavía sujetos por las correas del yugo—seguían arrastrando los yugos de un lado a otro en el campo de batalla, impulsados por el dolor y por el implacable impulso de la guerra. La escena mostraba la mecánica despiadada del combate: incluso criaturas nobles, atadas por el arnés y el deber, son forzadas a moverse pese a heridas atroces.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh ethical reality of war: suffering extends beyond warriors to animals and all who are bound into the machinery of battle. It implicitly invites reflection on compassion and the moral cost of violence, even when war is pursued under claims of duty.
Sañjaya describes wounded chariot-horses on the battlefield. Even with bodies pierced and torn by arrows, they remain harnessed to the chariot by yoke-straps and therefore keep pulling the yokes in different directions, likely in confusion and pain amid the chaos.