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Shloka 28

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall

वाजिभिश्षापि निर्जीवै: श्वसद्धि: शोणितो क्षितै: । सारोहैरविषमा भूमि: सौभद्रेण निपातितैः,सुभद्राकुमार अभिमन्युके द्वारा मार गिराये हुए रक्तस्नात निर्जीव और सजीव घोड़ों और घुड़सवारोंके कारण वह भूमि विषम एवं दुर्गम हो गयी थी

vājibhiḥ śāpī nirjīvaiḥ śvasadbhiḥ śoṇito kṣitaiḥ | sārohāir aviṣamā bhūmiḥ saubhadreṇa nipātitaiḥ ||

サञ्जयは語った。「大地は凹凸となり、進みがたくなっていた。血に濡れた馬が散乱し、あるものは息絶え、あるものはなお喘ぎ、さらに落馬した騎士たちが横たわっていた――それらはスバドラの子(アビマンニュ)によって討ち倒されたのである。この光景は戦の苛烈な代価を示す。戦場における勇と義務は、苦痛と、暴力が負う倫理の重みから切り離せない。」

वाजिभिःby/with horses
वाजिभिः:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootवाजिन्
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
and
:
TypeIndeclinable
Root
अपिalso/even
अपि:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअपि
निर्जीवैःwith lifeless (dead ones)
निर्जीवैः:
Karana
TypeAdjective
Rootनिर्जीव
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
श्वसद्भिःwith breathing (still alive ones)
श्वसद्भिः:
Karana
TypeAdjective
Rootश्वसत्
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
शोणित-उक्षितैःsmeared/sprinkled with blood
शोणित-उक्षितैः:
Karana
TypeAdjective
Rootशोणित-उक्षित
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
सारोहैःwith riders/horsemen
सारोहैः:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootसारोह
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
अविषमाuneven
अविषमा:
TypeAdjective
Rootअविषम
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
भूमिःthe ground/earth
भूमिः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootभूमि
FormFeminine, Nominative, Singular
सौभद्रेणby the son of Subhadrā (Abhimanyu)
सौभद्रेण:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootसौभद्र
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Singular
निपातितैःfelled/caused to fall (slain)
निपातितैः:
Karana
TypeAdjective
Rootनिपातित
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural

संजय उवाच

S
Sañjaya
S
Saubhadra (Abhimanyu)
H
horses
H
horsemen/riders
B
blood-soaked battlefield ground

Educational Q&A

Even when war is framed as dharma-yuddha, its reality is brutal: the verse forces attention to the tangible suffering—gasping animals, fallen riders, blood-soaked earth—inviting ethical reflection on the human and non-human cost of violence.

Sañjaya describes the battlefield after Abhimanyu’s assault: horses and their riders have been cut down, some horses dead and some still breathing, and the ground has become uneven and difficult to cross because of the bodies and blood.