Shloka 13
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
महता रथयुद्धेन कोटिश: क्षत्रिया हता: । तथाभूच्च मही कीर्णा क्षत्रियैर्वदतां वर,वक्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ श्रीकृष्ण! महारथयुद्धके द्वारा जब करोड़ों क्षत्रिय मारे गये होंगे, उस समय उनकी लाशोंसे यह सारी पृथ्वी ढक गयी होगी
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | mahatā rathayuddhena koṭiśaḥ kṣatriyā hatāḥ | tathābhūc ca mahī kīrṇā kṣatriyair vadatāṃ vara |
Yudhiṣṭhira disse: «Ó melhor dos oradores (Kṛṣṇa), depois daquela imensa guerra de carros, na qual crores de kṣatriyas foram mortos, a terra deve ter ficado juncada e coberta pelos corpos dos kṣatriyas.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral weight of mass violence: even a ‘righteous’ war leaves the earth burdened with death. Yudhiṣṭhira’s reflection prepares the ethical inquiry of Śānti Parva—how dharma is to be understood and lived after catastrophic loss.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses the foremost teacher (contextually, Kṛṣṇa) and imagines the scale of slaughter in the great chariot-battle, stating that the earth must have been strewn with the fallen kṣatriyas—an expression of shock and grief at the war’s aftermath.