Shloka 27

Devanagari script

नराश्चकायै: पतितैर्दन्तिभिश्न महाहवे | अगम्यरूपा पृथिवी मांसशोणितकर्दमा,उस महासमरमें मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियोंकी लाशें पड़ी हुई थीं। मांस और रक्तकी कीचड़ जम गयी थी। वहाँकी भूमिमें जाना असम्भव हो गया था

Transliteration

narāś ca kāyaiḥ patitair dantibhiś ca mahāhave | agamyārūpā pṛthivī māṃsaśoṇitakardamā ||

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—اس عظیم معرکے میں آدمیوں، گھوڑوں اور ہاتھیوں کی لاشیں گری پڑی تھیں۔ گوشت اور خون کی کیچڑ سے زمین ایسی ہولناک ہو گئی کہ وہاں سے گزرنا ناممکن تھا۔

Word by Word

नराःmen

चand

अश्वाःhorses

कायैःwith bodies/carcasses

पतितैःfallen

दन्तिभिःby/with elephants

महाहवेin the great battle

अगम्यरूपाhaving an impassable form

पृथिवीthe earth/ground

मांसशोणितकर्दमाmuddy with flesh and blood

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

pṛthivī (the battlefield ground)

narāḥ (men)

dantinaḥ (elephants)

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 ethical reality that war dehumanizes and devastates beyond the combatants: the land itself becomes polluted and impassable. It functions as a moral warning—victory pursued through mass slaughter leaves enduring suffering and a world made unfit for life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the horrific state of the battlefield: corpses of men and elephants cover the ground, and the earth has turned into a muddy sludge of flesh and blood, making movement through the field nearly impossible.