Shloka 6

Devanagari script

छिन्नगात्रैर्विकवचैर्विशिरस्कै: समन्तत: । पातितैश्न पतद्विश्व योधैरासीत्‌ समावृता,जिनके शरीरोंके टुकड़े-टुकड़े हो गये थे, कवच कटकर गिर गये थे और मस्तक भी काट डाले गये थे, ऐसे बहुत-से योद्धा वहाँ पृथ्वीपर गिरे थे और गिरते जा रहे थे, उन सबकी लाशोंसे वहाँकी भूमि सब ओरसे पट गयी थी

Transliteration

chinnagātrair vikavacair viśiraskaiḥ samantataḥ | pātitaiś ca patadbhir yodhair āsīt samāvṛtā (bhūmiḥ) ||

Translation

ചുറ്റുമെങ്ങും ഭൂമി—അവയവങ്ങൾ ഛിന്നമായ, കവചങ്ങൾ മുറിഞ്ഞുവീണ, തലകൾ വെട്ടിമാറ്റപ്പെട്ട യോദ്ധാക്കളാൽ മൂടപ്പെട്ടു; പലരും വീണുകിടന്നു, പലരും ഇനിയും വീഴുകയായിരുന്നു।

Word by Word

छिन्नगात्रैःby/with those whose limbs were cut off

विकवचैःby/with those whose armor was torn off

विशिरस्कैःby/with the headless ones

समन्ततःon all sides

पातितैःby/with the felled (ones)

चand

पतद्भिःby/with those falling

विश्वेall

योधैःby/with warriors

आसीत्was

समावृताcovered, filled

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

warriors (yodhāḥ)

armor (kavaca)

heads (śiras)

battlefield/earth (bhūmi/pṛthivī implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the catastrophic human cost of war: when wrath and rivalry dominate, the battlefield becomes a place where bodies are reduced to fragments. It implicitly cautions that even ‘duty-bound’ combat (kṣatriya-dharma) carries grave ethical weight and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the immediate दृश्य of the battle: warriors are being cut down and are still falling; severed limbs, stripped armor, and decapitated bodies lie everywhere, so that the ground is covered on all sides.