Shloka 5
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
चितासहस्प्रचितं वर्मशस्त्रसमाकुलम् । आपानभूमिं कालस्य तथा भुक्तोज्झितामिव
citāsahasrapracitaṁ varmaśastrasamākulam | āpānabhūmiṁ kālasya tathā bhuktojjhitām iva ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : Le sol était couvert de milliers de bûchers funéraires, et il demeurait encombré d’armures et d’armes. À l’œil, il semblait être la salle du festin du Temps (la Mort) — comme si Kāla y avait mangé et laissé le lieu jonché de ses sinistres restes. L’image fait de l’après-bataille un avertissement moral : la violence aboutit à un paysage où l’orgueil et la puissance des hommes sont réduits à des rebuts devant l’inéluctable Kāla.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses stark imagery to teach that war’s glory collapses into ruin under Kāla: weapons and armor become meaningless debris, and mass death turns the earth into a place of consumption for Time. It supports the Śānti-parvan’s ethical turn toward restraint, reflection, and dispassion after violence.
Vaiśampāyana describes a devastated ground covered with countless funeral pyres and littered with armor and weapons. The scene is likened to the dining-ground of Kāla, as if Death has ‘eaten’ there and left the leftovers—an evocative portrayal of the post-battle landscape.