Shloka 25
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall
विचिन्रैश्व॒ परिस्तोभै: पताकाभिश्न संवृता । चामरैश्न कुथाभिश्र प्रविद्धैश्नाम्बरोत्तमै:,सुवर्णमय पंखवाले बाणोंसे वहाँकी भूमि भरी हुई थी। रक्तकी धाराओंमें डूबी हुई थी। शूरवीरोंके कुण्डल-मण्डित तेजस्वी मस्तकों, हाथियोंके विचित्र झूलों, पताकाओं, चामरों, हाथीकी पीठपर बिछाये जानेवाले कम्बलों, इधर-उधर पड़े हुए उत्तम वस्त्रों, हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंके चमकीले आभूषणों, केंचुलसे निकले हुए सर्पोके समान पैने और पानीदार खड़गों, भाँति-भाँतिके कटे हुए धनुषों, शक्ति, ऋष्टि, प्रास, कम्पन तथा अन्य नाना प्रकारके आयुधोंसे आच्छादित हुई रणभूमिकी अद्भुत शोभा हो रही थी
sañjaya uvāca | vicitraiś ca paristobhaiḥ patākābhiś ca saṃvṛtā | cāmaraiś ca kuthābhiś ca praviddhair ambarottamaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The battlefield was covered with a strange profusion—strewn with banners and standards, with fly-whisks and elephant-cloths, and with fine garments flung about in every direction. In this grim spectacle, the ornaments and trappings of war became debris, revealing the ethical cost of battle: glory and display collapse into ruin when dharma is eclipsed by slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral irony of war: symbols of royalty and honor—banners, fly-whisks, fine garments—end up as scattered refuse. It invites reflection on dharma by showing how outward splendor cannot justify or withstand the devastation caused by adharma-driven conflict.
Sañjaya is narrating to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the दृश्य of the battlefield: it is blanketed with the fallen paraphernalia of armies—standards, ceremonial fly-whisks, elephant coverings, and fine clothes—indicating the scale of destruction and the collapse of ordered ranks into chaotic ruin.