Shloka 603
Śalya-hatānantarāṇi: Madrarāja-padānugānāṃ praskandana and the Pandava counter-encirclement (शल्यहतानन्तराणि—मद्रराजपदानुगानां प्रस्कन्दनम्)
क्षरन्तो रुधिरं देहैविपन्नायुधजीविता: । युधिष्ठिरके बाणसमूहोंसे आच्छादित हुए आपके सैनिकोंने आँखें मीच लीं और आपसमें ही एक-दूसरेको घायल करके वे अत्यन्त पीड़ित हो गये। उस समय शरीरोंसे रक्तकी धारा बहाते हुए वे अपने अस्त्र-शस्त्र और जीवनसे भी हाथ धो बैठे
sañjaya uvāca | kṣaranto rudhiraṃ dehair vipannāyudha-jīvitāḥ | yudhiṣṭhirake bāṇa-samūhaiḥ ācchāditāḥ tava sainikāḥ akṣiṇī nimīlya parasparaṃ eva anyonyaṃ vyathayitvā atyanta-pīḍitā abhavan | tadā dehebhyaḥ rudhira-dhārāḥ kṣarantas te astrāṇi śastrāṇi ca jīvitaṃ ca parityajya iva vinaṣṭāḥ ||
Sanjaya said: Covered over by volleys of arrows aimed by Yudhishthira, your soldiers shut their eyes in terror and confusion. Striking one another in the press of battle, they became grievously afflicted. Blood streamed from their bodies; bereft of weapons and of the will and means to live, they were as though stripped of both arms and life—an image of war’s moral collapse, where fear and disorder make men injure their own side.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war, especially when driven by adharma and sustained by stubbornness, collapses into chaos where fear overrides discernment. Ethically, it underscores that violence rebounds: confusion and panic can make people harm their own, revealing the inner cost of conflict beyond mere victory or defeat.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Yudhishthira’s arrow volleys overwhelm the Kaurava troops. In terror they shut their eyes, lose formation, and end up injuring one another. Bleeding heavily, they are described as having effectively lost both weapons and life.