Shloka 70
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
सायुधानां च बाहूनामूरूणां च विशाम्पते | आसीत् कटकटाशब्द: सुमहॉल्लोमहर्षण:
sāyudhānāṃ ca bāhūnām ūrūṇāṃ ca viśāmpate | āsīt kaṭakaṭāśabdaḥ sumahāṃl lomaharṣaṇaḥ prajānātha |
Sañjaya dit : Ô souverain du peuple ! Un cliquetis immense, qui faisait se hérisser les poils—« kat-kat »—retentit lorsque des bras armés et des cuisses, ainsi que des corps sans armure, tranchés et brisés, tombaient sur la terre.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a moral-psychological reminder: war’s reality is not glory but dismemberment and terror. By emphasizing the hair-raising clatter of severed, armorless bodies and limbs, it implicitly critiques the dehumanizing momentum of conflict and invites reflection on dharma, restraint, and the human cost of kṣatriya warfare.
Sañjaya reports to the king that, amid the battle, severed bodies, arms holding weapons, and thighs are falling to the ground. Their impact and collision produce a loud ‘kaṭa-kaṭa’ clattering sound, described as immense and frightening.