Shloka 4
अध्याय २९: कर्णस्य शल्यं प्रति शापस्मरणं च युद्धनिश्चयः | Chapter 29: Karṇa recalls curses to Śalya and declares resolve for battle
कमलदिनकरेन्दुसंनि भै: सितदशनै: सुमुखाक्षिनासिक: । रुचिरमुकुटकुण्डलैर्मही पुरुषशिरोभिरुपस्तृता बभौ,उस समय नरमुण्डोंसे ढकी हुई रणभूमिकी अद्भुत शोभा हो रही थी। वीरोंके वे कटे हुए मस्तक कमल, सूर्य और चन्द्रमाके समान कान्तिमान् थे। उनके सफेद दाँत चमक रहे थे। उनके मुख, नेत्र और नासिकाएँ भी बड़ी सुन्दर थीं और वे मनोहर मुकुट तथा कुण्डलोंसे मण्डित थे
sañjaya uvāca |
kamala-dinakarendu-sannibhaiḥ sita-daśanaiḥ sumukha-akṣi-nāsikaiḥ |
rucira-mukuṭa-kuṇḍalaiḥ mahī-puruṣa-śirobhir upastṛtā babhau ||
Sañjaya said: At that time the battlefield, strewn with human heads, assumed a strange and dreadful splendor. Those severed heads of warriors shone like lotuses, the sun, and the moon; their white teeth gleamed, their faces—with eyes and noses—still appeared fair, and they were adorned with charming crowns and earrings. The verse underscores the moral horror of war: even what is naturally beautiful becomes ethically unsettling when it is the ornament of slaughter.
संजय उवाच