Shloka 806
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
मुष्टियुद्धे नियुद्धं च देहपाप्मासुनाशनम् । दोनों दलोंके सैनिक एक-दूसरेके केश पकड़कर खींचते
sañjaya uvāca |
muṣṭiyuddhe niyuddhaṃ ca dehapāpmāsunāśanam |
サンジャヤは語った。「拳と組み討ちの近接戦において、その戦は身体を、命の息を、そして罪をも滅ぼすものとなった。両軍の兵は互いの髪をつかんで引きずり、歯で噛み、爪で裂き、拳で打ち、まるで力士のように取っ組み合った。かくして戦は陰鬱なる『浄め手』として猛り狂い—肉体の力と命を食らい、武人の掟においては、苛烈な暴力の試練によって積もった不徳を焼き尽くすものとされた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extreme hand-to-hand violence as simultaneously destructive and, within the epic’s warrior worldview, expiatory: battle annihilates the body and life, yet is also portrayed as capable of ‘burning away’ sin through the harsh ordeal of combat and death.
Sañjaya describes the fighting degenerating into brutal close-quarters brawling—hair-pulling, biting, scratching, and punching—so that the battlefield resembles a mass wrestling match, emphasizing the ferocity and intimacy of the slaughter.