Mahabharata 9.23.69 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 23, Shloka 69
Chapter 23: Śakuni Reports, Kaurava Advance, and Arjuna’s Penetration of the Host
प्रादुरासीन्महान् शब्दस्तालानां पततामिव । उस लोकसंहारकारी संग्राममें तलवारोंसे काटे जाते हुए मस्तक जब पृथ्वीपर गिरते थे, तब उनसे ताड़के फलोंके गिरनेकी-सी धमाकेकी आवाज होती थी ।।
prādurāsīn mahān śabdas tālānāṃ patatām iva | vimuktānāṃ śarīrāṇāṃ chinnānāṃ patatāṃ bhuvi, prajānātha! chinna-bhinnāḥ kavacaśūnyāḥ śarīrāṇi sāyudhā bhujāś ca jaṅghāś ca patanty eva; teṣāṃ kaṭa-kaṭeti ghoro romāñcakaraḥ śabdo 'śrūyata ||
సంజయుడు అన్నాడు—తాళఫలాలు పడినట్లుగా ఒక మహాశబ్దం ఉద్భవించింది।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a stark ethical reminder of war’s true cost: beyond strategy and heroism, battle reduces human life to mangled bodies and terrifying sounds. It implicitly cautions against glorifying violence and highlights the fragility of embodied existence.
Sañjaya reports to the king the sensory horror of the battlefield: severed, armorless bodies and limbs fall to the ground, producing a loud thudding and a dreadful clattering noise, likened to palm-fruits dropping.
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