Shloka 38

Devanagari script

शरीरैर्बहुधा छिन्ने: शोणितौघपरिप्लुतै: । गतासुभिरमित्रघ्न संवृता रणभूमय:,'शत्रुसूदन अर्जुन! बाण, शक्ति, ऋष्टि, तोमर, खड़्ग, पट्टिश, प्रास, नखर और लगुडोंकी मारसे हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंके शरीरोंके कई टुकड़े हो गये हैं। वे सब-के-सब खूनसे लथपथ हो प्राणशून्य होकर पड़े हैं और उनके द्वारा सारी रणभूमि पट गयी है

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

śarīrair bahudhā chinnaiḥ śoṇitaugha-pariplutaiḥ |

gatāsubhir amitraghna saṃvṛtā raṇabhūmayaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O slayer of foes, the battlefields are covered over with bodies—many times severed into pieces—drenched in torrents of blood and lying lifeless. The violence has reduced elephants, horses, and men alike to mangled remains, so that the very ground is carpeted with the dead.”

Word by Word

शरीरैःwith bodies

बहुधाin many ways / repeatedly

छिन्नैःcut, severed

शोणितौघपरिप्लुतैःflooded by torrents of blood

गतासुभिःlifeless (whose life-breath has gone)

अमित्रघ्नO slayer of foes

संवृताःcovered, filled

रणभूमयःbattlefields

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Arjuna (as Amitraghna)

battlefield (raṇabhūmi)

bodies/corpses

blood (śoṇita)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim cost of war: even when fought under kṣatriya-dharma, battle produces widespread suffering and death. It invites ethical reflection on violence, the fragility of life, and the heavy consequences borne by warriors and societies.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the state of the battlefield, addressing Arjuna as “slayer of foes.” He describes the ground covered with severed, blood-drenched, lifeless bodies—conveying the intensity and devastation of the fighting.