Shloka 46
धृतराष्ट्र–संजय संवादः: कर्ण–घटोत्कचयोर्निशायुद्धवर्णनम्
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Sañjaya Dialogue: Description of the Night Engagement of Karṇa and Ghaṭotkaca
मुसलैर्मुद्गरैश्वैव गदाभि: कुणपैस्तथा । सुवर्णविकृताभिश्व कशाभिभर्भरतर्षभ
musalair mudgaraiś caiva gadābhiḥ kuṇapaiḥ tathā | suvarṇa-vikṛtābhiś ca kaśābhir bharatarṣabha ||
मुसलैर्मुद्गरैश्चैव गदाभिः कुणपैस्तथा । सुवर्णविकृताभिश्च कशाभिर्भरतर्षभ ॥
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how warfare can descend into moral collapse: when restraint and dharma erode, combatants resort not only to conventional weapons but also to degrading, improvised means—signaling the ethical disintegration that accompanies uncontrolled violence.
Kṛṣṇa is describing (to a Bharata hero) the kinds of weapons and implements being used—pestles, hammers, maces, even carcasses, and gold-adorned whips—conveying the ferocity and disorder of the fighting and the breakdown of dignified martial conduct.