Shloka 57
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
रुधिरोक्षितसन्नाहैरात्तशस्त्रैरुदायुधै: । नानाप्रहरणैघोरै: परस्परवधैषिभि:
rudhirokṣitasannāhair āttaśastrair udāyudhaiḥ | nānāpraharaṇair ghoraiḥ parasparavadhaiṣibhiḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。「彼らは血に濡れた鎧をまとい、武器を掴んで高く掲げ、恐るべきさまざまな飛び道具と戦具を備え、互いの滅びのみを望んで立っていた。この光景は、怒りと対立がダルマを覆い隠すとき、戦士が秩序の守護者ではなく、相互殺戮の道具へと変わることを示していた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral collapse that war can produce: when hostility dominates, combatants become mutually destructive, and the protective purpose of kṣatriya power (upholding order and dharma) is overshadowed by the drive to kill.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield condition of the fighters: armored and blood-soaked, weapons raised, equipped with many fearsome arms, they confront each other with the explicit aim of mutual slaughter.