Shloka 396
रणभूमिवर्णनम् — Devāsuropama-yuddha and the ‘River’ Metaphor of the Battlefield
पत्तिकोट्यस्तथा तिसख्रो बलमेतत्तवाभवत् | भरतश्रेष्ठ) आपके पक्षमें ग्यारह हजार रथ, दस हजार सात सौ हाथी, दो लाख घोड़े तथा तीन करोड़ पैदल--इतनी सेना शेष रह गयी थी
pattikoṭyas tathā tisakhro balam etat tava abhavat | bharataśreṣṭha, āpake pakṣa meṃ gyārah hazār ratha, das hazār sāt sau hastī, do lākh ghoṛe tathā tīn karoṛ paidal—itanī senā śeṣa rah gaī thī |
Sanjaya said: “O best of the Bharatas, this was the strength that still remained on your side: eleven thousand chariots, ten thousand seven hundred elephants, two hundred thousand horses, and three crores of foot-soldiers.” In the grim arithmetic of war, he reports the surviving force—an ethical reminder that victory and loss are measured not only in outcomes but in the vast human cost that continues even after great slaughter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the sobering reality of war: even when strategy and power are discussed as numbers, the moral weight lies in the immense, continuing cost in lives and resources. It implicitly cautions against pride in strength and highlights the impermanence of worldly power.
Sanjaya, narrating the battlefield events to Dhritarashtra, reports the forces still remaining on the Kaurava side—listing the counts of chariots, elephants, horses, and foot-soldiers after heavy fighting.