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 ||
वैशम्पायनजी बोले—उस भूमि में सहस्रों चिताएँ जली थीं और वह कवच तथा अस्त्र-शस्त्रों से आच्छादित थी। देखने पर वह ऐसी प्रतीत होती थी मानो वह काल की भोजन-भूमि हो—और काल वहाँ भोग करके उच्छिष्ट छोड़ गया हो।
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.