Shloka 24

अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्

Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca

Devanagari script

उत्कृत्तवदनैर्देहै: शरीरैः कृत्तबाहुभि: । भुजैश्न पाणिनिर्मुक्त: पाणिभिव्यड्गुलीकृतै:,आक्रीडमिव रुद्रस्य पुराभ्यर्दयत: पशून्‌ । भूपाल! अर्जुनका वह महान्‌ युद्ध मृत्युका क्रीडास्थल बना हुआ था, जो श्त्रोंके आधघातसे ही सुन्दर लगता था। वहाँ बहुत-सी ऐसी लाशें पड़ी थीं, जिनके मस्तक कट गये थे और भुजाएँ काट दी गयी थीं। बहुत-सी ऐसी भुजाएँ दृष्टिगोचर होती थीं, जिनके हाथ नष्ट हो गये थे और बहुत-से हाथ भी अंगुलियोंसे शून्य थे। कितने ही मदोन्मत्त हाथी धराशायी हो गये थे। जिनकी सूँड़के अग्रभाग और दाँत काट डाले गये थे। बहुतेरे घोड़ोंकी गर्दनें उड़ा दी गयी थीं और रथोंके टुकड़े-टुकड़े कर दिये गये थे। किन्हींकी आँतें कट गयी थीं, किन्हींके पाँव काट डाले गये थे तथा कुछ दूसरे लोगोंकी संधियाँ (अंगोंके जोड़) खण्डित हो गयी थीं। कुछ लोग निनश्वेष्ट हो गये थे और कुछ पड़े-पड़े छटपटा रहे थे। इनकी संख्या सैकड़ों तथा सहस्रों थी। हमने देखा कि वह युद्धस्थल कायरोंके लिये भयवर्धक हो रहा है। मानो पूर्व (प्रयल) कालमें पशुओं (जीवों) को पीड़ा देनेवाले रुद्रदेवका क्रीडास्थल हो

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

utkṛttavadanair dehaiḥ śarīraiḥ kṛttabāhubhiḥ |

bhujaiś ca pāṇinirmuktaiḥ pāṇibhir vyaṅgulīkṛtaiḥ |

ākṛīḍam iva rudrasya purābhyardayataḥ paśūn ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: The battlefield had become strewn with bodies whose faces were hewn off, with trunks whose arms were severed; with arms torn from their hands, and with hands mangled and stripped of fingers. O king, it looked like the very playground of Rudra in ancient times, when he tormented living creatures—an arena of death where the violence of weapons made a dreadful spectacle. The description underscores the moral horror of war: beyond victory and defeat, it reveals the dehumanizing cost borne by countless beings.

Word by Word

उत्कृत्तcut off, severed

वदनैःwith faces/mouths

देहैःwith bodies

शरीरैःwith bodies

कृत्तcut, severed

बाहुभिःwith arms

भुजैःwith arms

नnot

पाणिwith hands

निर्मुक्तैःreleased/removed (from)

पाणिभिःwith hands

व्यङ्गुलीकृतैःmade fingerless; with fingers destroyed

आक्रीडम्playground; play-field

इवlike, as if

रुद्रस्यof Rudra

पुराformerly, in olden times

अभ्यर्दयतःof (him) tormenting/afflicting

पशून्animals; creatures

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhūpāla (the king, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

Rudra

paśu (living creatures)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse functions as an ethical mirror: it exposes the brutal, dehumanizing reality of war. By likening the field to Rudra’s fearsome ‘playground,’ it stresses that violence—though pursued for victory—produces overwhelming suffering that should sober any claim of glory.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king what he ‘sees’ on the Kurukṣetra field: corpses and severed limbs everywhere—faces cut off, arms and hands mutilated—so that the battlefield appears like a dreadful arena associated with Rudra’s ancient tormenting of beings.