Shloka 79

Devanagari script

ते भिन्नदेहा व्यसवो निपेतु: कर्णेषुभिर्भूमितले स्वनन्त:

Transliteration

te bhinnadehā vyasavo nipetuḥ karṇeṣubhir bhūmitalē svanantaḥ

Translation

Sanjaya said: Their bodies, torn apart, fell lifeless to the ground, while the arrows lodged in their ears rang out upon the earth—an image of war’s ruthless momentum, where valor and life are severed in an instant.

Word by Word

तेthey/those

भिन्नदेहाःwith bodies split/cleft (torn-bodied)

व्यसवःlifeless, dead

निपेतुःfell down

कर्णेषुभिःwith/through arrows (kārṇa-type shafts)

भूमितलेon the ground-surface

स्वनन्तःsounding, making a noise

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sanjaya)

क

कर्णेषु (arrows/shafts, karṇa-śara)

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 stark impermanence of embodied life in war: even the mighty fall instantly when struck. It implicitly cautions against attachment to the body and highlights the grave ethical weight of violence, even when framed as kṣatriya duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes warriors struck down in battle: their bodies are torn apart, they fall dead to the earth, and the arrows embedded in them produce a ringing sound as they hit or lie upon the ground.