Shloka 3
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
तेडवतीर्य कुरुक्षेत्र केशमज्जास्थिसंकुलम् | देहन्यास: कृतो यत्र क्षत्रियैस्तैर्महात्मभि:
teḍavatīrya kurukṣetre keśamajjāsthi-saṅkule | deha-nyāsaḥ kṛto yatra kṣatriyais tair mahātmabhiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: Mereka kemudian turun ke Kurukṣetra, medan yang sesak dengan rambut, sumsum dan tulang—tempat para pahlawan kṣatriya yang berhati besar telah melepaskan jasad mereka. Pemandangan itu membangkitkan beban moral peperangan: tekad kepahlawanan dan harga yang mengerikan apabila dharma dipertikaikan melalui kekerasan.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity of warfare: even when framed as kṣatriya-dharma, battle culminates in mass death. Remembering the physical devastation (bones, marrow, hair) forces reflection on responsibility, the limits of violence, and the cost paid by those who 'lay down the body.'
The narrator describes the characters arriving at Kurukṣetra after the great war, portraying the battlefield as strewn with human remains. It situates the listener in the stark aftermath, preparing for Shānti Parva’s reflective discourse on dharma, governance, and moral repair.