Shloka 27
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
तान् सुपर्णश्न गृध्राश्न॒ कर्षयन्त्यसृगुक्षिता: । विगृहा चरणैर्गुध्रा भक्षयन्ति सहस्रश:,“उन वीरोंको खूनसे भीगे हुए गरुड़ और गीध इधर-उधर खींच रहे हैं। सहस्रों गीध उनके पैर पकड़-पकड़कर खा रहे हैं
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
tān suparṇāś ca gṛdhrāś ca karṣayanty asṛg-ukṣitāḥ |
vigṛhya caraṇair gṛdhrā bhakṣayanti sahasraśaḥ ||
तान् सुपर्णाश्च गृध्राश्च कर्षयन्त्यसृगुक्षितान्। विगृह्य चरणैर्गृध्रा भक्षयन्ति सहस्रशः॥
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse drives home the Mahābhārata’s moral realism: war reduces even celebrated heroes to helpless bodies, exposing the fragility of fame and power. In Strī-parvan this stark vision deepens compassion and functions as an ethical indictment of violence born from greed, wrath, and adharma.
As the women behold the battlefield’s devastation, the narrator describes corpses of warriors soaked in blood being dragged and eaten by birds and vultures, emphasizing the horror of the post-war scene.