Shloka 53
Bhūriśravas–Sātyaki Saṃvāda and Duel; Arjuna’s Intervention (भूरिश्रवाः–सात्यकि संवादः, युद्धम्, अर्जुन-हस्तक्षेपः)
तत्पातितशिरोबाहुकबन्धं॑ भीमदर्शनम्
tatpātitaśirobāhukabandhaṁ bhīmadarśanam
Sañjaya said: “That fearsome sight was seen—his trunk, with head and arms struck down and fallen—an image of dreadful consequence in the midst of war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark reality of war: bodily destruction and terror are not abstractions but visible consequences. Through Sañjaya’s witnessing voice, it implicitly cautions against the moral and human cost of violence, reminding the listener that actions in battle culminate in irreversible outcomes.
Sañjaya describes a gruesome battlefield दृश्य: a warrior’s kabandha—his trunk remaining after the head and arms have been cut down—presented as a fearsome sight. The line functions as a vivid report of the carnage unfolding in the Drona Parva.