Shloka 20
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
उद्वृत्तनयनैस्तैस्तु गतसच्त्वै: सुविक्षतै: । व्यभ्राजत मही राजन् पुण्डरीकैरिवावृता
udvṛttanayanais tais tu gatasattvaiḥ suvikṣataiḥ | vyabhrājata mahī rājan puṇḍarīkair ivāvṛtā ||
രാജാവേ! കണ്ണുകൾ മേലോട്ടു മറിഞ്ഞും പ്രാണശക്തി വിട്ടുമാറിയും ഗുരുതരമായി മുറിവേറ്റും കിടന്നവരാൽ മൂടപ്പെട്ട ഭൂമി, വെളുത്ത താമരകളാൽ ആവൃതമായതുപോലെ ദീപ്തമായി തെളിഞ്ഞു।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a striking simile—corpses and grievously wounded bodies making the ground look like it is strewn with white lotuses—to highlight the moral gravity of war. It cautions that aestheticized descriptions cannot erase the reality of suffering and death, and it implicitly presses the ruler to recognize responsibility for the consequences of conflict.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra what the battlefield looks like: the earth appears to shine because it is covered with fallen and badly wounded warriors, their eyes upturned and their life-force gone. It is a visual report of the devastation in the Shalya Parva war scenes.