Shloka 34
Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 20 — Yudhiṣṭhira–Duryodhana Encounter and Escalation of Arms
रथै रथा विनिहता हस्तिभिश्नापि हस्तिन: । नरैर्नरा हता: पेतुरश्चाश्नाश्वेः: सहस्रश:,रथियोंसे रथी, हाथियोंसे हाथी, पैदल मनुष्योंसे मनुष्य और घोड़ोंसे घोड़े मारे जाकर रणभूमिमें सहस्रोंकी संख्यामें पड़े थे
rathai rathā vinihatā hastibhiś cāpi hastinaḥ | narair narā hatāḥ petur aśvāś cāśvaiḥ sahasraśaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Chariot-warriors were cut down by chariot-warriors, elephants by elephants, foot-soldiers by foot-soldiers, and horses by horses; thus, in their thousands, the slain fell upon the battlefield. The report underscores the grim reciprocity of combat—each arm of the army meeting its like—revealing the impersonal, consuming nature of war where valor and duty are entangled with mass destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh symmetry of warfare: each military arm destroys its counterpart, and the result is vast, indiscriminate loss. Ethically, it functions as a sobering reminder that even when framed as duty, war rapidly becomes an impersonal mechanism of mass death.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the intensity of the battle: chariot-fighters, elephants, infantry, and horses are killing one another in like-for-like clashes, and thousands of bodies are falling across the field.