Shloka 20
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
संहारे सर्वतो जाते पृथिव्यां शोकसम्भवे । बद्दीनामुत्तमस्त्रीणां सीमन्तोद्धरणे तथा
saṃhāre sarvato jāte pṛthivyāṃ śokasambhave | baddhīnām uttamastrīṇāṃ sīmanto-ddharaṇe tathā ||
Sañjaya dit : Quand le carnage s’éleva de toutes parts sur la terre, semant la douleur—quand la marque auspicious de la raie des cheveux (sindūra) de bien des nobles femmes fut effacée (leurs époux étant tombés)—alors, la bataille brisant toute retenue et toute convenance, d’effroyables présages apparurent, annonçant la destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
When war abandons restraint and dharmic limits, its harm is not only physical but social and moral: it spreads grief across the land, symbolized by the wiping away of women’s auspicious marks, and nature itself seems to warn through ominous signs.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield turning into all-sided carnage. The scale of death brings universal sorrow, including the bereavement of many women, and at that moment terrifying portents arise, signaling impending ruin.