Shloka 29
अध्याय ५३ — रणमेघोपमा सेना-वर्णना तथा सुषेण-वधोत्तर प्रतिक्रिया
Battle-as-Storm Imagery and the Aftermath of Suṣeṇa’s Fall
तच्छिर: प्रापतद् भूमौ श्येनाहृतमिवामिषम् | ततो<स्य कायो वसुधां पश्चात् प्रापतदच्युत,राजन्! वह सिर बाजके लाये हुए मांसके टुकड़ेके समान पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़ा। उसके बाद सुकेतुका धड़ भी धराशायी हो गया
tacchiraḥ prāpatad bhūmau śyenāhṛtam ivāmiṣam | tato 'sya kāyo vasudhāṃ paścāt prāpatad acyuta, rājan ||
राजन्! ते छिन्न शिर पृथ्वीवर असे पडले, जणू बाजाने मांसाचा तुकडा उचलून आणून टाकावा. त्यानंतर सुकेतूचे धडही वसुधेवर कोसळले।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a sobering ethical lens on war: even heroic combat culminates in bodily ruin, and the narrator’s duty is truthful witnessing. The hawk-and-meat simile strips away glamour, reminding the listener (the king) of the human cost that dharma must reckon with.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield death: the warrior’s head is severed and falls to the ground, compared to a hawk carrying a piece of flesh; soon after, the body also collapses onto the earth.