Shloka 48
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
रणे चारूणि चापानि हेमपृष्ठानि मारिष । हतानामपविद्धानि कलापाश्न महाधना:,आर्य! उस रणक्षेत्रमें मारे गये नरेशोंके सुवर्णमय पृष्ठसे विभूषित सुन्दर धनुष तथा बहुमूल्य तरकस जहाँ-तहाँ पड़े हुए थे
raṇe cārūṇi cāpāni hemapṛṣṭhāni māriṣa | hatānām apaviddhāni kalāpāś ca mahādhanāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “O venerable one, on that battlefield there lay scattered the beautiful bows with backs plated in gold, cast away from the hands of the slain, and also their richly furnished quivers. The scene silently proclaims the cost of war—splendor and wealth rendered useless when life and duty are cut down.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence and the futility of worldly splendor in the face of death: even exquisite, costly weapons become abandoned objects once their owners fall. It invites reflection on the ethical weight of war and the transient nature of power and wealth.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the aftermath on the battlefield: beautiful gold-adorned bows and expensive quivers lie scattered, having been dropped or cast aside from the slain warriors, conveying the scale of destruction.