Shloka 28

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 49: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Strategic Foreboding after Abhimanyu’s Fall

Devanagari script

वाजिभिश्षापि निर्जीवै: श्वसद्धि: शोणितो क्षितै: । सारोहैरविषमा भूमि: सौभद्रेण निपातितैः,सुभद्राकुमार अभिमन्युके द्वारा मार गिराये हुए रक्तस्नात निर्जीव और सजीव घोड़ों और घुड़सवारोंके कारण वह भूमि विषम एवं दुर्गम हो गयी थी

Transliteration

vājibhiḥ śāpī nirjīvaiḥ śvasadbhiḥ śoṇito kṣitaiḥ | sārohāir aviṣamā bhūmiḥ saubhadreṇa nipātitaiḥ ||

Translation

ສັນຊະຍະກ່າວວ່າ: ພື້ນດິນກາຍເປັນຂຸລຂະ ແລະຍາກຈະຜ່ານໄປ ເພາະເກືອບເຕັມໄປດ້ວຍມ້າ—ບາງຕົວຕາຍແລ້ວ ບາງຕົວຍັງຫາຍໃຈຫອບໆ—ຊຸມເລືອດ ແລະດ້ວຍນັກຂີ່ທີ່ລົ້ມລົງ ຖືກສໍບັດຣະ (ອະພິມັນຍຸ) ຟັນລົງ. ພາບນີ້ຕອກຢ້ຳຄ່າແທ້ອັນໂຫດຮ້າຍຂອງສົງຄາມ: ຄວາມກ້າຫານແລະໜ້າທີ່ໃນສະໜາມຮົບ ບໍ່ອາດແຍກອອກຈາກຄວາມທຸກທໍລະມານ ແລະນ້ຳໜັກທາງຈິດທຳຂອງຄວາມຮຸນແຮງໄດ້.

Word by Word

वाजिभिःby/with horses

चand

अपिalso/even

निर्जीवैःwith lifeless (dead ones)

श्वसद्भिःwith breathing (still alive ones)

शोणित-उक्षितैःsmeared/sprinkled with blood

सारोहैःwith riders/horsemen

अविषमाuneven

भूमिःthe ground/earth

सौभद्रेणby the son of Subhadrā (Abhimanyu)

निपातितैःfelled/caused to fall (slain)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Saubhadra (Abhimanyu)

horses

horsemen/riders

blood-soaked battlefield ground

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when war is framed as dharma-yuddha, its reality is brutal: the verse forces attention to the tangible suffering—gasping animals, fallen riders, blood-soaked earth—inviting ethical reflection on the human and non-human cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield after Abhimanyu’s assault: horses and their riders have been cut down, some horses dead and some still breathing, and the ground has become uneven and difficult to cross because of the bodies and blood.