Mahabharata 7.178.16 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 178, Shloka 16
तस्यापि तुरगा: शीघ्रा हस्तिकाया: खरस्वना: । शतं युक्ता महाकाया मांसशोणितभोजना:
tasyāpi turagāḥ śīghrā hastikāyāḥ kharasvanāḥ | śataṁ yuktā mahākāyā māṁsaśoṇitabhojanāḥ ||
ಸಂಜಯನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಅವನ ರಥಕ್ಕೆ ಜೋಡಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟ ಕುದುರೆಗಳೂ ವೇಗಶಾಲಿಗಳು, ಆನೆಯಂತೆ ಮಹಾಕಾಯರು, ಮತ್ತು ಕತ್ತೆಯಂತೆ ಕರ್ಕಶ ಧ್ವನಿಯವರು. ಅವುಗಳ ಸಂಖ್ಯೆ ನೂರು. ಆ ಮಹಾಕಾಯ ಅಶ್ವಗಳು ಮಾಂಸ ಮತ್ತು ರಕ್ತವನ್ನು ಆಹಾರವಾಗಿ ಸೇವಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದವು।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is not a direct moral injunction, but its stark imagery functions ethically: it portrays how war magnifies ferocity and abnormality, suggesting the erosion of humane norms when conflict becomes all-consuming.
Sañjaya is describing the extraordinary horses yoked to a warrior’s chariot—swift, massive, and loud—numbering one hundred, and characterized as feeding on flesh and blood, thereby intensifying the dreadful tone of the ongoing battle.
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