Shloka 31

Devanagari script

उत्तस्थु: समरे तत्र कबन्धानि समन्तत: । कुरूणां चैव सैन्येषु पाण्डवानां च भारत,भारत! वहाँ समरमें कौरवों और पाण्डवोंकी सेनाओंमें चारों ओर कबन्ध उठने लगे

Transliteration

uttasthuḥ samare tatra kabandhāni samantataḥ | kurūṇāṃ caiva sainyeṣu pāṇḍavānāṃ ca bhārata ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : «Là, au cœur de cette bataille, ô Bhārata, des troncs décapités se dressaient de toutes parts, parmi les armées des Kurus comme parmi celles des Pāṇḍavas.»

Word by Word

उत्तस्थुःrose up / stood up

समरेin battle

तत्रthere

कबन्धानिheadless trunks / torsos

समन्ततःon all sides

कुरूणाम्of the Kurus

चand

एवindeed / just

सैन्येषुin the armies

पाण्डवानाम्of the Pāṇḍavas

चand

भारतO Bhārata

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Kurus (Kaurava host)

Pāṇḍavas (Pāṇḍava host)

kabandha (headless trunk)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the impartial destructiveness of war: death does not discriminate between sides. It implicitly warns that when dharma collapses into armed conflict, the outcome is widespread suffering that engulfs all participants.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where, amid intense fighting, decapitated bodies (kabandhas) are seen rising or moving about on all sides among both the Kuru and Pāṇḍava armies, emphasizing the horror and chaos of the combat.