Shloka 57
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
रुधिरोक्षितसन्नाहैरात्तशस्त्रैरुदायुधै: । नानाप्रहरणैघोरै: परस्परवधैषिभि:
rudhirokṣitasannāhair āttaśastrair udāyudhaiḥ | nānāpraharaṇair ghoraiḥ parasparavadhaiṣibhiḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Mereka berdiri dengan zirah yang bermandi darah, senjata digenggam dan diangkat tinggi—bersenjata dengan pelbagai peluru dan alat perang yang menggerunkan—masing-masing berhasrat membinasakan yang lain. Pemandangan itu menegaskan bahawa apabila dharma ditenggelami amarah dan perseteruan, para pahlawan menjadi alat pembunuhan sesama sendiri, bukan lagi penjaga tertib.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral collapse that war can produce: when hostility dominates, combatants become mutually destructive, and the protective purpose of kṣatriya power (upholding order and dharma) is overshadowed by the drive to kill.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield condition of the fighters: armored and blood-soaked, weapons raised, equipped with many fearsome arms, they confront each other with the explicit aim of mutual slaughter.