Mahabharata — Karna Parva, Shloka 6
छिन्नगात्रैर्विकवचैर्विशिरस्कै: समन्तत: । पातितैश्न पतद्विश्व योधैरासीत् समावृता
chinnagātrair vikavacair viśiraskaiḥ samantataḥ | pātitaiś ca patadbhir yodhair āsīt samāvṛtā (bhūmiḥ) ||
รอบด้านพื้นพิภพถูกปกคลุมด้วยนักรบที่ล้มลง—และผู้ที่ยังล้มระเนระนาด—ผู้มีแขนขาถูกตัด เกราะถูกฟันขาด และศีรษะถูกเฉือนขาดจากกาย
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic human cost of war: when wrath and rivalry dominate, the battlefield becomes a place where bodies are reduced to fragments. It implicitly cautions that even ‘duty-bound’ combat (kṣatriya-dharma) carries grave ethical weight and suffering.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the immediate दृश्य of the battle: warriors are being cut down and are still falling; severed limbs, stripped armor, and decapitated bodies lie everywhere, so that the ground is covered on all sides.