Shloka 57
शध्वान: काकाश्च गृध्राश्च वृका गोमायुभि: सह | प्रणेदुर्भक्ष्यमासाद्य विकृताश्च मृगद्धिजा:,कुत्ते, कौए, गीध, भेड़िये तथा गीदड़ आदि विकराल पशु-पक्षी वहाँ अपना आहार पाकर हर्षनाद करने लगे
śaśvānāḥ kākaś ca gṛdhrāś ca vṛkā gomāyubhiḥ saha | praṇedur bhakṣyam āsādya vikṛtāś ca mṛgadvijāḥ ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Ang mga asong-gubat, uwak, buwitre, lobo, at hayena—kasama ang iba pang mababangis na hayop at ibong nakapanghihilakbot—nang matagpuan ang kanilang pagkain, ay nagtaas ng magagaspang na sigaw ng pagdiriwang. Ang larangan ng digmaan, na nagkalat ng mga bumagsak, ay naging piging ng mga kumakain ng bangkay—isang malamig na pangitain ng pagkasira ng dangal at pagdurusang pinakakawalan ng digmaan.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical cost of war: when humans abandon restraint and dharma, the battlefield turns into a place where death is normalized—so much so that scavengers rejoice. It functions as a moral warning that violence degrades the world and invites inauspiciousness.
Sañjaya describes ominous battlefield sights: scavenging animals and birds (jackals, crows, vultures, wolves, hyenas) find carrion and cry out loudly, suggesting heavy slaughter and foreboding consequences in the Kurukṣetra war.