Shloka 25
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
तेषां छिन्ना महाराज भुजा: कनकभूषणा: । उद्वेष्टन्ते विचेष्टन्ते पतन्ते चोत्पतन्ति च
teṣāṁ chinnā mahārāja bhujāḥ kanakabhūṣaṇāḥ | udveṣṭante viceṣṭante patante cotpatanti ca ||
Sañjaya thưa: “Tâu đại vương, những cánh tay của họ—được trang sức bằng vàng—đã bị chém lìa. Dẫu đã rời khỏi thân, chúng vẫn quằn quại, giật giũ, rơi xuống rồi lại bật văng lên.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim reality of war: even the symbols of power and valor—arms decorated with gold—are reduced to lifeless fragments. It highlights impermanence and the moral cost of conflict, reminding rulers that worldly splendor cannot shield one from the consequences of violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra vivid battlefield details: warriors’ arms, severed in combat and still wearing golden ornaments, continue to writhe and twitch due to residual motion, falling and jerking upward—an intense depiction of the carnage in the Karṇa Parva battle.