Shloka 333
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
वदनै: पश्य संछज्ञां महीं शोणितकर्दमाम् । “देखो
vadanaiḥ paśya sañchannāṃ mahīṃ śoṇita-kardamām |
Sañjaya berkata: “Lihatlah—bumi diliputi sepenuhnya oleh wajah-wajah, dan tanah menjadi lumpur darah. Medan perang sesak dengan wajah para wira yang gugur, berhias perhiasan—berseri seperti bulan dan bintang, bertatah subang yang menawan, berjanggut dan bermisai—kini terbaring sebagai saksi ngeri akan kebinasaan yang dibawa perang.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the devastating cost of war: even heroic beauty and martial glory end in destruction, turning the earth into a blood-soaked mire. It functions as a moral warning about the dehumanizing aftermath of violence and the fragility of worldly splendor.
Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war, points out to the listener that the battlefield has become densely strewn with the severed or fallen faces of warriors, and the ground is churned into mud by blood—an intense visual of carnage after fierce fighting.