Mahabharata 11.9.20 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 9, Shloka 20
स्त्रीपर्व — नवमोऽध्यायः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra summons the Kuru women; the city departs in collective lamentation
शरीराग्निषु शूराणां जुह॒ुवुस्ते शराहुती: । हूयमानान् शरांश्वैव सेहुरुत्तमपूरुषा:
śarīrāgniṣu śūrāṇāṃ juhuvuḥ te śarāhutīḥ | hūyamānān śarāṃś caiva sehur uttama-pūruṣāḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśaṃpāyana: Yaong mga pinakadakilang lalaki, ang mga bayani, ay nagbuhos ng mga handog na palaso sa apoy ng katawan ng mga mandirigma; at habang ang mga palasong iyon ay “inihahandog” sa kanila, tiniis nila ang tama—pinasan ang mga sugat nang may tatag na nararapat sa pinakamahuhusay na tao.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses yajña (sacrifice) imagery to portray martial endurance as disciplined self-offering: warriors bear pain and death with steadiness, aligning courage and restraint with kṣatriya-dharma even amid tragic violence.
In the aftermath of the great battle (Stree Parva’s lamentation setting), the narrator describes how heroes fought: arrows were ‘offered’ into their bodies as if into sacrificial fires, and the foremost men endured those wounds—emphasizing both the ferocity of combat and the warriors’ steadfastness.
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