Shloka 28

Devanagari script

कुञ्जराणां च पततां हयौघानां च भारत । अगम्यरूपा पृथिवी मांसशोणितकर्दमा,भरतनन्दन! धराशायी होते हुए हाथियों और अश्वसमूहोंके मांस तथा रक्तसे कीच जम जानेके कारण वहाँकी भूमिपर चलना-फिरना असम्भव हो गया

Transliteration

kuñjarāṇāṃ ca patatāṃ hayaughānāṃ ca bhārata | agamyārūpā pṛthivī māṃsaśoṇitakardamā ||

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: “Wahai Bhārata, dengan gajah-gajah rebah dan gerombolan kuda bertaburan, bumi menjadi tidak dapat dilalui—bertukar menjadi lumpur daging dan darah.”

Word by Word

कुञ्जराणाम्of elephants

चand

पतताम्of those falling (fallen)

हयौघानाम्of masses of horses

चand

भारतO Bhārata

अगम्यरूपाhaving an impassable form; impassable

पृथिवीthe earth/ground

मांसशोणितकर्दमाmuddy with flesh and blood

भरतनन्दनO delight of Bharata (O descendant of Bharata)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra as addressee)

elephants

horses

earth/ground (battlefield)

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?

The verse conveys the ethical cost of war: violence degrades not only people but the very world they inhabit, making the ‘ground’ of righteous action (dharma) feel obstructed and polluted by the consequences of slaughter.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield is choked with fallen elephants and heaps of horses, and the ground has become a slippery, impassable mire of flesh and blood.