Shloka 30

इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्

Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment

Devanagari script

प्रच्छाद्य पृथिवीं तस्थु: सर्वमायोधन प्रति । शरीराण्यशिरस्कानि विदेहानि शिरांसि च

Transliteration

pracchādya pṛthivīṃ tasthuḥ sarvam āyodhanaṃ prati | śarīrāṇy aśiraskāni videhāni śirāṃsi ca

Translation

ವೈಶಂಪಾಯನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— ಭೂಮಿಯನ್ನು ಮುಚ್ಚುವಂತೆ ಅವರು ಸಮಸ್ತ ಯುದ್ಧಭೂಮಿಯೆಲ್ಲೆಡೆ ಹರಡಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದರು. ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಶಿರಸ್ಸಿಲ್ಲದ ದೇಹಗಳು, ದೇಹವಿಲ್ಲದ ಶಿರಸ್ಸುಗಳು ಪ್ರತ್ಯೇಕವಾಗಿ ಬಿದ್ದಿದ್ದವು.

Word by Word

प्रच्छाद्यhaving covered

पृथिवीम्the earth

तस्थुःstood / remained

सर्वम्all, the whole

आयोधनम्battlefield

प्रतिtowards, in the direction of

शरीराणिbodies

अशिरस्कानिheadless

विदेहानिbodiless / without bodies

शिरांसिheads

चand

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

pṛthivī (earth/ground)

āyodhana (battlefield)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse offers a stark visual of war’s aftermath—dismembered bodies covering the earth—serving as a moral reminder of the heavy, often irreparable consequences of violence and adharma-driven conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a battlefield scene where the ground is covered with the dead: headless bodies and severed heads scattered, emphasizing the scale and horror of the fighting.