Shloka 56
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
दूरं न शक्यं तत्रासीद् गन्तुमश्वेन केनचित् । साथ्चारोहैर्हतैरश्वैरावते वसुधातले,सवारोंसहित घोड़ोंकी लाशोंसे पटे हुए भूतलपर किसीके लिये भी घोड़ेद्वारा दूरतक जाना असम्भव हो गया था
dūraṁ na śakyaṁ tatrāsīd gantum aśvena kenacit | sāśvārūḍhair hatair aśvair āvṛte vasudhātale ||
サンジャヤは言った。「そこでは、誰ひとり馬で遠くへ進むことができなくなった。大地の面が、討たれた馬とその騎手の屍で覆われていたからである。戦場の混雑と殺戮は、動くことそのものを苦難へと変え、戦が戦士のみならず、秩序・通行・統御の手段までも滅ぼすことを示していた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tangible consequences of violence: war does not merely decide victory or defeat; it collapses basic order and mobility, turning the earth itself into an obstacle strewn with the dead. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven conflict multiplies suffering beyond the intended targets.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield so choked with the bodies of slain horses and their mounted riders that no one can ride far; movement by horse becomes practically impossible due to the mass of corpses covering the ground.