Shloka 433

Devanagari script

अगम्यरूपा पृथिवी मांसशोणितकर्दमा | भारत! वहाँ कर्णद्वारा मारे गये हाथियों और घोड़ोंकी लाशोंसे पृथ्वीपर चलना असम्भव हो गया। रक्त और मांसकी कीच जम गयी

Transliteration

agamyarūpā pṛthivī māṃsaśoṇitakardamā | bhārata! tatra karṇadvārā māritaiḥ hastibhiś ca aśvaiś ca śavasaṃghaiḥ pṛthivyāṃ gamanaṃ aśakyaṃ babhūva | rakta-māṃsayoḥ kardamaḥ sañjajñe |

Translation

سنجے نے کہا—اے بھارت، وہاں زمین گوشت اور خون کی کیچڑ بن گئی۔ کرن کے ہاتھوں مارے گئے ہاتھیوں اور گھوڑوں کی لاشوں کے ڈھیروں نے سطحِ زمین کو ڈھانپ لیا؛ اس پر چلنا بھی ناممکن ہو گیا۔

Word by Word

अगम्यरूपाhaving an impassable form; impassable-looking

पृथिवीthe earth/ground

मांसशोणितकर्दमाmuddy with flesh and blood

भारतO Bharata

तत्रthere

कर्णद्वाराby Karna (as the agent/instrument)

मारेभ्यःfrom the slain (ones)

हस्तिभ्यःfrom elephants

अश्वेभ्यःfrom horses

लाशाभिःwith corpses

पृथिव्याम्on the earth/ground

चलनम्movement; walking

असम्भवम्impossible

अभवत्became/was

रक्तमांसयोःof blood and flesh

कीचःmud/slush

समजायतarose/formed

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Bharata (Dhritarashtra)

Karna

Earth/ground (battlefield)

Elephants

Horses

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 catastrophic human and animal cost of war: when violence dominates, the very earth becomes ‘impassable’—a moral and physical image of how adharma degrades the world and obstructs right living.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that Karna’s onslaught has produced such massive slaughter of elephants and horses that the battlefield ground is clogged with carcasses and has turned into a mire of blood and flesh, making movement impossible.