Shloka 78
Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout
अत्युग्रप्रतिपिशैश्व नदद्धिश्व भूशोत्कटै: । गजाश्रमथितैश्रान्यैर्मही कीणाभवत् प्रभो,वे सब-के-सब भयानक रूपसे कुचल दिये गये थे, अतः उन्मत्त-से होकर जोर-जोरसे चीखते और चिल्लाते थे। इसी प्रकार छूटे हुए घोड़ों और हाथियोंने भी अन्य बहुत-से योद्धाओंको कुचल दिया था। प्रभो! उन सबकी लाशोंसे धरती पट गयी थी
atyugra-pratipiśaiś ca nadadbhir bhūśotkaṭaiḥ | gajāśva-mathitaiś cānyair mahī kīrṇābhavat prabho ||
Sañjaya said: “O lord, the earth became strewn everywhere with bodies—men crushed into dreadful shapes, roaring and crying out in delirious agony. Likewise, riderless horses and elephants trampled many other warriors. The ground was carpeted with the corpses of them all.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical horror of war’s aftermath: even beyond deliberate killing, uncontrolled forces—panic, stampeding animals, chaos—multiply suffering. It functions as a grim reminder that violence, once unleashed, exceeds human intention and leaves the earth itself burdened by adharma-born devastation.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the scene of carnage: warriors lie mangled and cry out in agony, while riderless horses and elephants, running loose, trample additional fighters. The battlefield ground is described as covered with corpses.