Shloka 68
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
Devanagari script
असिभिश्किद्यमानानां शिरसां लोकसंक्षये
Transliteration
asibhiś chidyamānānāṃ śirasāṃ lokasaṃkṣaye
Translation
Sañjaya dit : «À mesure que les épées tranchaient des têtes, on eût dit que le monde lui-même courait à sa perte.»
Word by Word
असिभिःwith swords
असिभिः:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootअसि
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
किद्यमानानाम्of (those) being cut/torn
किद्यमानानाम्:
TypeAdjective
Rootकिद्य (धातु)
FormNeuter, Genitive, Plural
शिरसाम्of heads
शिरसाम्:
TypeNoun
Rootशिरस्
FormNeuter, Genitive, Plural
लोकसंक्षयेin the destruction of the world/people
लोकसंक्षये:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootलोकसंक्षय
FormMasculine, Locative, Singular
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
SañjayaS
swordsH
headsT
the world (loka)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic moral and human cost of war: when violence becomes pervasive, it feels as though the very order of the world is collapsing, warning against the escalation of adharma and unchecked slaughter.
Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, describes the ferocity of combat—swords cutting down warriors so relentlessly that the scene appears like a universal devastation (lokasaṃkṣaya).