Shloka 7
लघुहस्त: प्रचिच्छेद ददृशे तं न कश्नन । स पपात क्षितौ क्षीण: प्रविद्धाभरणाम्बर:
laghuhastaḥ praciccheda dadṛśe taṃ na kaścana | sa papāta kṣitau kṣīṇaḥ praviddhābharaṇāmbaraḥ ||
Sañjaya said: With swift hands he cut him down; no one could even see him clearly. Exhausted, he fell upon the earth, his ornaments and garments flung apart—an image of how, in the fury of battle, prowess and life can be ended in an instant.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of embodied life amid warfare: even great strength and status (signified by ornaments and fine clothing) can be instantly undone. Ethically, it points to the sobering cost of battle and the impermanence that should temper pride and aggression.
Sañjaya describes a combat moment where a swift-handed fighter strikes so quickly that observers cannot clearly perceive the action; the struck warrior, drained of strength, collapses to the ground with his ornaments and garments scattered in the fall.