Shloka 33
Adhyāya 74 (Book 6, Bhīṣma-parva): Bhīma–Duryodhana re-engagement and afternoon escalation
परिपेतुर्हयाश्चात्र केचिच्छस्त्रकृतव्रणा: । रथान् विपरिकर्षन्तो हतेषु रथयोथधिषु,उस युद्धस्थलमें कितने ही घोड़े अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंक आधातसे घायल होकर अपने रथियोंके मारे जानेके बाद भी रथ खींचते हुए भागते और गिर पड़ते थे
paripetur hayāś cātra kecic chastrakṛtavraṇāḥ | rathān viparikṛṣanto hateṣu rathayodhiṣu ||
Sañjaya said: Here and there on that battlefield, some horses—wounded by blows of weapons—ran wildly. Even after their chariot-warriors had been slain, they still dragged the chariots along, only to flee and collapse, revealing the pitiless momentum of war in which even the innocent beasts are driven beyond endurance.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the collateral suffering and moral cost of war: even animals, lacking agency in human conflict, are injured and driven onward by the machinery of battle, prompting reflection on compassion and the tragic momentum of violence.
Sañjaya describes chaotic scenes on the battlefield where weapon-wounded horses, their chariot-warriors already killed, still pull the chariots in panic and confusion until they finally fall.