Shloka 58

भीष्मस्य मध्याह्नयुद्धवर्णनम् / Mid-day Battle Description: Bhīṣma Engaged by the Pāñcālas

Devanagari script

परिघैर्भिन्दिपालैश्व शतघ्नीभिक्ष मारिष । शरीरै: शस्त्रनिर्भिन्नै: समास्तीर्यत मेदिनी,आर्य! समरभूमिमें गिरे हुए बाण, तोमर, शक्ति, ऋष्टि, खड्ग, पट्टिश, प्रास, लोहेके भाले, फरसे, परिघ, भिन्दिपाल तथा शतघ्नी (तोप)--इन अस्त्र-शस्त्रों तथा इनके द्वारा विदीर्ण हुए मृत शरीरोंसे सारी पृथ्वी पट गयी थी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | parighair bhindipālaiś ca śataghnībhikṣa māriṣa | śarīraiḥ śastra-nirbhinnaiḥ samāstīryata medinī ||

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—اے بزرگ! پرِگھ، بھِندِپال اور شتگھنی جیسے ہتھیاروں اور اسلحے سے چاک چاک لاشوں نے زمین کو یوں ڈھانپ لیا تھا گویا ساری دھرتی ہی بچھ گئی ہو۔

Word by Word

परिघैःwith iron clubs/bars

भिन्दिपालैःwith bhindipālas (javelin-like weapons)

चand

शतघ्नीभिःwith śataghnīs (missile/engine of war)

खindeed/also (particle; reading uncertain)

मारिषO noble one / sir

शरीरैःwith bodies

शस्त्रनिर्भिन्नैःtorn/pierced by weapons

समास्तीर्यतwas strewn/covered

मेदिनीthe earth

आर्यO noble one

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

medinī (earth/ground)

parigha (club/iron bar)

bhindipāla (weapon)

śataghnī (weapon/war-engine)

śastra (weapons)

śarīra (bodies)

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 offers a stark ethical reminder: war’s visible outcome is not honor but a landscape covered with weapons and the dead. It implicitly critiques the human cost of conflict and evokes reflection on dharma, responsibility, and the consequences of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene: the ground is littered with heavy weapons (parigha, bhindipāla, śataghnī) and with corpses mangled by arms, conveying the intensity and carnage of the fighting.