Shloka 48
भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas
रणे चारूणि चापानि हेमपृष्ठानि मारिष । हतानामपविद्धानि कलापाश्न महाधना:,आर्य! उस रणक्षेत्रमें मारे गये नरेशोंके सुवर्णमय पृष्ठसे विभूषित सुन्दर धनुष तथा बहुमूल्य तरकस जहाँ-तहाँ पड़े हुए थे
raṇe cārūṇi cāpāni hemapṛṣṭhāni māriṣa | hatānām apaviddhāni kalāpāś ca mahādhanāḥ ||
सञ्जय उवाच—मारिष, रणे हतानाम् अपविद्धानि चारूणि हेमपृष्ठानि चापानि, महाधनानां कलापाश्च यत्र-तत्र पतिताः स्म।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence and the futility of worldly splendor in the face of death: even exquisite, costly weapons become abandoned objects once their owners fall. It invites reflection on the ethical weight of war and the transient nature of power and wealth.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the aftermath on the battlefield: beautiful gold-adorned bows and expensive quivers lie scattered, having been dropped or cast aside from the slain warriors, conveying the scale of destruction.