Shloka 35
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
प्रासासिशक्तिपरशुविशिखाहिदुरासदाम् । बलकड़्कमहानक्रां गोमायुमकरोत्कटाम्
prāsāsiśaktiparaśuviśikhāhidurāsadām | balakaṅkamahānakrāṁ gomāyumakarotkaṭām
Sañjaya said: It was a fearsome, almost unapproachable scene—bristling with spears, swords, javelins, axes, arrows, and serpents; crowded with cranes, herons, great crocodiles, jackals, and formidable makaras. The battlefield had become like a dreadful wilderness of death, where violence drew in scavengers and predators, underscoring the grim moral cost of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dehumanizing aftermath of war: weapons and death transform the field into a terrifying ecosystem of predators and scavengers. Ethically, it serves as a reminder that even ‘necessary’ conflict carries grave consequences and should never be romanticized.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield’s horrific appearance—strewn and bristling with weapons and compared to a dreadful, hard-to-approach region inhabited by birds, serpents, crocodiles, jackals, and makaras—emphasizing the intensity and carnage of the fighting in Droṇa Parva.