Shloka 19
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
गजवाजिरथक्षुण्णान् पश्य योधान् सहस्रश: । “देखो, सहस्रों योद्धाओंके शरीर गदाओंके आघातसे चूर-चूर हो रहे हैं। मूसलोंकी मारसे उनके मस्तक फट गये हैं, तथा हाथी, घोड़े एवं रथोंसे वे कुचल दिये गये हैं ।। १८ ई || मनुष्यहयनागानां शरशक््त्यूष्टिपट्टिशै:
gajavājirathakṣuṇṇān paśya yodhān sahasraśaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Behold—thousands of warriors are being crushed under elephants, horses, and chariots.” The scene he reports is a stark testimony to the moral cost of war: bodies are broken and lives extinguished in mass, reminding the listener that battlefield glory is inseparable from widespread suffering and the heavy burden of adharma that violence can unleash.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim reality of war: even when framed as duty, combat produces indiscriminate devastation. By making the listener ‘see’ the crushing of thousands, the narration implicitly invites ethical reflection on the human cost of violence and the weight of responsibility borne by those who choose or sustain war.
Sañjaya reports to the blind king what is unfolding on the battlefield: masses of fighters are being trampled and crushed amid the press of elephants, horses, and chariots. The line functions as a vivid battlefield snapshot within the larger account of the Karṇa Parva fighting.