Shloka 26
निकृत्तान्त्रै: कृत्तपादैस्तथान्यै: कृत्तसंधिभि: । निश्रेष्विस्फुरद्धिश्न शतशो5थ सहस्रश:
nikṛttāntraiḥ kṛttapādais tathānyaiḥ kṛttasaṃdhibhiḥ | niśreṣv isphuradbhis tīkṣṇaśataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “There were hundreds—indeed thousands—of warriors with their entrails cut away, with their feet severed, and others with their joints hewn apart; sharp weapons still quivered in their bodies.” The verse underscores the brutal, dehumanizing reality of battle: when dharma collapses into unchecked violence, the field becomes a spectacle of suffering rather than a ground for righteous victory.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a moral and narrative warning: war, even when framed as duty, unleashes immense suffering. By emphasizing mutilation and the sheer number of casualties, it confronts the listener with the ethical cost of conflict and the fragility of embodied life.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the condition of the battlefield: countless fighters lie grievously mutilated—entrails exposed, feet severed, joints cut—while sharp weapons remain lodged and quivering in their bodies, conveying the intensity and horror of the ongoing slaughter.