Shloka 40
Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 20 — Yudhiṣṭhira–Duryodhana Encounter and Escalation of Arms
रूपाण्यत्यर्थकान्तानि द्विरदाश्वनृणां नृप समुन्नानीव वस्त्राणि ययुर्दुर्दर्शतां पराम्,नरेश्वर! हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंके अत्यन्त सुन्दर रूप भी वहाँ कीचड़में सने हुए वस्त्रोंके समान घिनौने हो गये थे। उनकी ओर देखना कठिन हो रहा था
sañjaya uvāca | rūpāṇy atyarthakāntāni dviradāśvanṛṇāṁ nṛpa samunnānīva vastrāṇi yayur durdarśatāṁ parām |
Sañjaya said: O King, the exceedingly beautiful forms of elephants, horses, and men became, as it were, like garments smeared with mud—repulsive and hard to look at. Thus, amid the carnage, even what was once splendid turned into something scarcely bearable to behold, revealing the war’s power to strip dignity and beauty from living beings.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the dehumanizing and defiling nature of war: even the most splendid beings and forms lose their beauty and become repulsive. It implicitly warns that violence obscures dignity and makes what is naturally admirable difficult to behold, inviting ethical reflection on the cost of conflict.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield to the king: elephants, horses, and warriors—once impressive in appearance—are now soiled and disfigured amid mud and gore, like clothes smeared with filth, making the scene extremely hard to look at.