Shloka 36
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
व्युत्क्रान्तानपरान् योधांश्छादयित्वा तरस्विन: । पुनर्युद्धाय गच्छन्ति जयगृद्धा: प्रमन््यव:,“जिनके प्राण निकल गये हैं, उन योद्धाओंको वस्त्र आदिसे ढककर विजयाभिलाषी वेगशाली वीर पुनः अत्यन्त क्रोधपूर्वक युद्धके लिये जा रहे हैं
sañjaya uvāca |
vyutkrāntān aparān yodhāṁś chādayitvā tarasvinaḥ |
punar yuddhāya gacchanti jayagṛddhāḥ pramanyavaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Having covered over those other warriors whose life-breath had departed, the swift and mighty heroes—hungry for victory and inflamed with fierce wrath—go again to the battle. The scene underscores the grim ethic of the battlefield: even after attending to the fallen, the living are driven back into violence by ambition, anger, and the compulsion of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh moral atmosphere of war: even after acknowledging the dead with a minimal act of covering them, the surviving fighters are propelled back into combat by victory-lust (jayagṛddhatā) and overpowering anger (pramanyu). It implicitly contrasts human decency toward the fallen with the dehumanizing momentum of battle.
Sañjaya describes warriors on the battlefield who, after covering the bodies of those who have died, return once more to fight—swiftly and with intense rage—driven by the desire to win.