Shloka 77

दुर्योधन-कर्ण-संवादः

Duryodhana–Karna Dialogue on Vyūha-bheda and Daiva

Devanagari script

शतश: शेरते भूमौ निकृत्ता गोवृषा इव । रुधिरेण परीताड़्ा श्वशृूगालादनीकृता:,'सैकड़ों योद्धा कटकर गाय-बैलोंके समान धरतीपर सो रहे हैं। इन सबके शरीर खूनसे लथपथ हो गये हैं और ये कुत्तों तथा सियारोंके भोजन बन गये हैं"

Transliteration

śataśaḥ śerate bhūmau nikṛttā govṛṣā iva | rudhireṇa parītāḍhāḥ śvaśṛgālādanīkṛtāḥ ||

Translation

వందల సంఖ్యలో యోధులు కోసివేయబడి గోవులు-ఎద్దుల్లా నేలపై పడి ఉన్నారు. రక్తంతో తడిసిన వారి దేహాలు కుక్కలు, నక్కల ఆహారమయ్యాయి।

Word by Word

शतशःby hundreds, in hundreds

शेरतेlie, are lying

भूमौon the ground

निकृत्ताःcut down, severed

गोवृषाःcows and bulls

इवlike, as

रुधिरेणwith blood

परीताःsurrounded, covered

श्वशृगालादनीकृताःmade into food for dogs and jackals

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

earth/ground (bhūmi)

cows and bulls (go-vṛṣa)

blood (rudhira)

dogs (śva)

jackals (śṛgāla)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underlines the ethical horror of war: once killing becomes indiscriminate, the fallen lose even the minimum human dignity of proper rites, and the battlefield turns into a scene of dehumanization where bodies become carrion. It functions as a moral mirror, not a celebration of victory.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the aftermath of intense fighting: countless warriors lie dead on the ground, cut down in heaps, their bodies drenched in blood and left exposed, attracting scavengers like dogs and jackals.