Shloka 5
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
ते विबाहुशिरस्त्राणा: प्रहता: कर्णसायकै: । पेतु: पृथिव्यां युगपच्छिन्नं शालवनं यथा,परंतु कर्णके बाणोंसे घायल होकर बाहु, मस्तक और कवच आदिसे रहित हो वे कटे हुए शालवनके समान एक साथ ही पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े
te vibāhuśirastrāṇāḥ prahatāḥ karṇasāyakaiḥ | petuḥ pṛthivyāṃ yugapac chinnaṃ śālavanam yathā ||
Dijo Sañjaya: Abatidos por las flechas de Karṇa, aquellos guerreros—despojados de brazos, cabezas y protecciones—cayeron a la tierra todos a una, como un bosque de sāla talado de golpe.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, extraordinary skill can produce mass destruction in an instant; it implicitly invites reflection on the ethical burden of kṣatriya warfare—prowess and duty on one side, and the stark dehumanization and suffering on the other.
Sañjaya describes warriors being struck by Karṇa’s arrows so decisively that they fall simultaneously, compared to a grove of sāla trees felled at once—an image emphasizing the scale and suddenness of the slaughter.