Shloka 27
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Anxiety and Bhīṣma’s Theological Explanation of Pāṇḍava Invincibility
Book 6, Chapter 61
नराश्चकायै: पतितैर्दन्तिभिश्न महाहवे | अगम्यरूपा पृथिवी मांसशोणितकर्दमा
narāś ca kāyaiḥ patitair dantibhiś ca mahāhave | agamyārūpā pṛthivī māṃsaśoṇitakardamā ||
संजय बोले—उस महासमर में मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियों के शव गिरे पड़े थे। मांस और रक्त की कीचड़ से पृथ्वी लथपथ हो गई थी; वहाँ जाना असम्भव-सा हो गया था।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical reality that war dehumanizes and devastates beyond the combatants: the land itself becomes polluted and impassable. It functions as a moral warning—victory pursued through mass slaughter leaves enduring suffering and a world made unfit for life.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the horrific state of the battlefield: corpses of men and elephants cover the ground, and the earth has turned into a muddy sludge of flesh and blood, making movement through the field nearly impossible.