Shloka 346
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
शिरांस्युरव्यामदृश्यन्त ताराजालमिवाम्बरे । पृथ्वीपर गिरे हुए कुण्डल और सुन्दर नेत्रोंसे युक्त पूर्ण चन्द्रमाके समान मनोहर मस्तक आकाशकमें ताराओंके समूहकी भाँति दिखायी देते थे
śirāṁsy urvyām adṛśyanta tārājālam ivāmbare | pṛthvīpare gire huye kuṇḍala aur sundara netroṁ se yukta pūrṇa-candramā ke samāna manohara mastaka ākāśa meṁ tārāoṁ ke samūha kī bhānti dikhāyī dete the |
Sañjaya said: On the earth, severed heads were seen scattered about, appearing like a net of stars in the sky. Those charming heads—fallen to the ground, still adorned with earrings and marked by beautiful eyes—looked like full moons, and together they seemed like a constellation of stars. The passage heightens the moral weight of war: even the noble and beautiful are reduced to lifeless fragments, exposing the terrible cost of violence and the fragility of worldly splendor.
संजय उवाच