Mahabharata 4.32.126 — Virata Parva, Adhyaya 32, Shloka 126

Virāṭa Rescued from Suśarmā; Night Battle and Royal Gratitude (विराटमोक्षणं सुशर्मवधाभिमुखं च)

Devanagari script

अदृश्यत शिरश्कछिन्नं रजोध्वस्तं सकुण्डलम्‌ । बातकी बातमें

Transliteration

adṛśyata śiraśchinnaṁ rajodhvastaṁ sakuṇḍalam |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: Severed heads, still wearing their earrings, were seen rolling and lying in the dust, fouled by the earth raised in battle. The scene underscores the grim cost of violence: even beauty, ornament, and identity are reduced to lifeless fragments amid the chaos of combat.

Word by Word

• अदृश्यत: was seen / appeared
• अदृश्यत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

• शिरः-छिन्नम्: having the head cut off / head-severed
• शिरः-छिन्नम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिरस् + छिन्न
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• रजः-ध्वस्तम्: covered/soiled with dust
• रजः-ध्वस्तम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रजस् + ध्वस्त
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• स-कुण्डलम्: with earrings
• स-कुण्डलम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कुण्डल
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• severed heads (śiraḥ)
• earrings (kuṇḍala)
• dust (rajas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the stark impermanence of bodily beauty and worldly adornment in the face of violence. It implicitly cautions against glamorizing war: ornaments and identity markers remain, but life is gone, emphasizing the ethical gravity and human cost of conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a battlefield aftermath where severed heads—still bearing earrings—are visible in the dust. The imagery intensifies the horror and realism of combat, portraying the chaos and devastation left by fighting.