Shloka 1143
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
उदतिष्ठन् कबन्धानि बहुन्युत्थाय चापतन् । सहसौरों मनुष्य मारे जाकर पृथ्वीपर पड़े थे। उनमेंसे बहुतेरे कबन्ध (धड़) उठकर खड़े हो जाते और पुनः गिर पड़ते थे
udatiṣṭhan kabandhāni bahūny utthāya cāpatan |
Sañjaya said: Many headless trunks rose up again, and having stood, fell down once more. The battlefield, strewn with the slain, displayed a terrifying aftermath of violence—an image that underscores how war reduces living beings to broken bodies and leaves only horror in its wake.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the gruesome consequences of unchecked violence: war does not yield true victory but leaves devastation and fear. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven slaughter dehumanizes all involved and produces only suffering.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene after the night massacre: numerous severed torsos (kabandhas) appear to rise and then collapse again, conveying the terrifying, chaotic aftermath among the heaps of the dead.