Shloka 49
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 95 — Sātyaki’s Breakthrough and the Routing of Allied Contingents
गजाश्वसादिम्लेच्छानां पतितानां शितै: शरै: । बला: कंका वृका भूमावपिबन् रुधिरं मुदा,अर्जुनके तीखे बाणोंसे मरकर पृथ्वीपर गिरे हुए उन हाथीसवार और घुड़सवार म्लेच्छोंका रक्त कौए, बगुले और भेड़िये बड़ी प्रसन्नताके साथ पी रहे थे
gajāśvasādīmlecchānāṃ patitānāṃ śitaiḥ śaraiḥ | balāḥ kaṅkā vṛkā bhūmāv apiban rudhiraṃ mudā ||
Sañjaya said: When the mleccha warriors—mounted on elephants and horses—had been struck down by sharp arrows and lay fallen upon the earth, herons, crows, and wolves drank their blood with grim delight. The scene underscores the dehumanizing aftermath of battle: once dharma collapses into slaughter, the field becomes a feast for scavengers, and victory is measured not by righteousness but by ruin.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a stark ethical reminder: war’s immediate outcomes—death and the scavengers’ feast—expose how quickly human aims collapse into suffering. It implicitly critiques the intoxication of victory by showing the battlefield reduced to carrion and blood, urging reflection on dharma amid violence.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield after sharp arrows have felled mleccha elephant- and horse-riders. Their bodies lie on the ground while birds and wolves drink the spilled blood, emphasizing the gruesome reality of the ongoing Kurukṣetra war.