Shloka 50

Devanagari script

प्रेताश्नैव पिशाचाश्न क्रव्यादाश्च॒ मृगाण्डजा:

Transliteration

pretāśnaiva piśācāśna kravyādāś ca mṛgāṇḍajāḥ

Translation

ਸੰਜਯ ਬੋਲਿਆ—ਰਣਭੂਮੀ ਇੰਨੀ ਭਿਆਨਕ ਹੋ ਗਈ ਸੀ ਕਿ ਪ੍ਰੇਤ-ਭੋਜੀ, ਪਿਸਾਚ-ਭੋਜੀ, ਕ੍ਰਵਿਆਦ ਅਤੇ ਜੰਗਲੀ ਪਸ਼ੂਆਂ ਦੇ ਅੰਡਿਆਂ ਤੋਂ ਜੰਮੇ ਜੀਵ ਵੀ ਡਿੱਗਿਆਂ ਨੂੰ ਖਾਣ ਲਈ ਉੱਥੇ ਖਿੱਚੇ ਚਲੇ ਆਏ।

Word by Word

• प्रेताश्नाः: corpse-eaters
• प्रेताश्नाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रेताश्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• पिशाचाश्नाः: flesh-eaters like piśācas / piśāca-eaters
• पिशाचाश्नाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिशाचाश्न
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• क्रव्यादाः: raw-flesh eaters/carrion-eaters
• क्रव्यादाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रव्याद
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• मृगाण्डजाः: those born from deer-eggs (a class of beings)
• मृगाण्डजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृगाण्डज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• pretas (the dead/departed)
• piśācas
• kravyādas
• mṛgāṇḍajāḥ (egg-born wild creatures)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical degradation of war: mass killing creates conditions where death-feeding forces gather, symbolizing how adharma and unchecked violence turn the battlefield into a realm of horror rather than heroism.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is describing the aftermath/atmosphere of the fighting in the Karṇa Parva: the field is strewn with corpses, attracting ghouls, flesh-eaters, and scavenging creatures—an ominous depiction of the war’s brutality.