Shloka 77
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
ग्रहनक्षत्रशबला द्यौरिवासीद् वसुन्धरा । इधर-उधर गिरे हुए राजाओंके छत्र, चँवर, व्यजन, वीर योद्धाओंके मनोहर कुण्डलोंसे विभूषित, कमल एवं चन्द्रमाके समान कान्तिमान् तथा मूँछोंसे युक्त और अत्यन्त अलंकृत कटे हुए मस्तक, जिनमें सोनेके सुन्दर कुण्डल जगमगा रहे थे, फेंके हुए-से पड़े थे। महाराज! इन सब वस्तुओंसे आच्छादित हुई वहाँकी भूमि ग्रहों और नक्षत्रोंसे भरे हुए आकाशके समान विचित्र शोभा धारण कर रही थी || ७५-७६ ह ।। एवमेते महासेने मृदिते तत्र भारत
sañjaya uvāca | grahanakṣatraśabalā dyaur ivāsīd vasundharā | idhara-udhara gire hue rājāoṃ ke chatra, caṃvara, vyajana, vīra-yoddhāoṃ ke manohara kuṇḍaloṃ se vibhūṣita, kamala evaṃ candramā ke samāna kāntimān tathā mūṃchoṃ se yukta atyanta alaṅkṛta kaṭe hue mastaka—jinmeṃ sone ke sundara kuṇḍala jagamagā rahe the—pheṅke hue-se paṛe the | mahārāja! in sab vastuoṃ se ācchādita huī vahāṃ kī bhūmi grahoṃ aur nakṣatroṃ se bhare hue ākāśa ke samāna vicitra śobhā dhāraṇa kara rahī thī || 75–76 ha || evam ete mahāsene mṛdite tatra bhārata
Sanjaya said: The earth looked like the sky mottled with planets and stars. Scattered here and there lay the fallen kings’ parasols, yak-tail fans, and other fans; and severed heads of heroic warriors—radiant like lotus and moon, moustached, richly adorned—cast down as if discarded, with beautiful golden earrings still glittering in them. O King, covered with these objects, the ground there assumed a strange splendor, like the heavens filled with planets and constellations. Thus, O Bharata, when that great host had been crushed there…
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the impermanence of worldly power: royal insignia (parasols, whisks, fans) and bodily beauty (ornaments, radiant faces) become mere debris on the battlefield. The ethical weight lies in recognizing how war reduces status and splendor to lifeless objects, prompting reflection on dharma, restraint, and the true cost of kṣatriya conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra a gruesome battlefield scene: the ground is strewn with fallen kings’ emblems and with severed, ornamented heads of warriors. He uses a cosmic simile—earth resembling a sky filled with planets and stars—to convey the eerie, variegated ‘splendor’ created by scattered bright objects amid destruction, as the great army has been crushed.