Shloka 59

भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas

Devanagari script

विशब्दैरल्पशब्दैश्व शोणितौघपरिप्लुतै: । गतासुभिरमित्रघ्न विबभौ निचिता मही,शत्रुओंका नाश करनेवाले महाराज! वहाँ पृथ्वीपर कुछ ऐसे लोग गिरे थे, जिनके मुखसे शब्द नहीं निकल पाता था। कुछ ऐसे थे, जो बहुत थोड़ा बोल पाते थे। प्रायः सभी लोग खूनसे लथपथ हो रहे थे और बहुत-से ऐसे शरीर पड़े थे, जो सर्वथा प्राणहीन हो चुके थे। इन सबके द्वारा वहाँकी भूमि मानो चुन दी गयी थी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

viśabdair alpaśabdaiś ca śoṇitaughapariplutaiḥ |

gatāsubhir amitraghna vibabhau nicitā mahī ||

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า “โอ้ผู้ปราบศัตรู ณ ที่นั้นพื้นดินดูราวกับกองสุมด้วยร่างผู้คน—บางคนล้มลงไร้เสียง บางคนเปล่งได้เพียงเสียงแผ่ว; ส่วนมากชุ่มด้วยกระแสโลหิต และหลายร่างสิ้นชีวิตโดยสิ้นเชิง”

Word by Word

विषब्दैःby/with those who are speechless

अल्पशब्दैःby/with those who speak little

चand

शोणितौघपरिप्लुतैःby/with those flooded in torrents of blood

गतासुभिःby/with those whose life-breath has departed (dead)

अमित्रघ्नO slayer of foes

विबभौshone/appeared

निचिताheaped up/covered (with)

महीthe earth/ground

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (addressed as Amitraghna)

mahī (the earth/battlefield ground)

śoṇita (blood)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the human cost of warfare: beyond victory and strategy lie speechless suffering, dying breaths, and lifeless bodies. It implicitly presses an ethical awareness that even ‘righteous’ conflict (dharma-yuddha) carries grave consequences that must be faced without romanticizing violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra what the battlefield looks like: the ground is covered with the dead and the dying—some unable to speak, some barely speaking—many drenched in blood, making the earth appear densely strewn with bodies.