Shloka 73
सुनीलकेशं वरदस्य तस्य शूरस्य पारावतलोहिताक्षम् | अश्वस्य मेध्यस्य शिरो निकृत्तं न्यस्तं हविर्धानमिवान्तरेण
sunīlakeśaṁ varadasya tasya śūrasya pārāvatalohitākṣam | aśvasya medhyasya śiro nikṛttaṁ nyastaṁ havirdhānam ivāntareṇa
Sañjaya said: “The head of that heroic, boon-giving one’s sacrificial horse—dark-maned and with eyes red like a pigeon—had been cut off and set down apart, as if it were an oblation placed in the offering-vessel.” The image underscores how the violence of war desecrates what is meant to be pure and ritually protected, turning a symbol of sanctity into a grim token of conflict.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
By likening a severed horse’s head to an oblation set in a ritual vessel, the verse highlights the ethical tension between dharma (ritual purity, protection of the sacred) and the brutalizing force of war, where even what is consecrated can be violated and repurposed as a sign of victory or terror.
Sañjaya describes a grim battlefield sight: the head of a sacrificially fit horse—identified by its dark mane and reddish eyes—has been cut off and placed aside, evoking the visual of a sacrificial offering, but in a distorted, violent context.