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。」
संजय उवाच
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.