Shloka 17
Bhīṣma–Karṇa Saṃvāda on the Śaraśayyā (भीष्म–कर्ण संवादः शरशय्यायाम्)
छत्रैश्न बहुधा छिन्नैर्ध्वजैश्न विनिपातितै: । (चामरैहेमदण्डैश्व॒ समास्तीर्यत मेदिनी ।) अड्कुशैरपविद्धैश्व परिस्तोमैश्व भारत
sañjaya uvāca | chatraiś ca bahudhā chinnaiḥ dhvajaiś ca vinipātitaiḥ | cāmaraiḥ hemadaṇḍaiś ca samāstīryata medinī | aṅkuśair apaviddhaiś ca paristomaiś ca bhārata | ekaikaṃ tribhir ānarcat kaṅkubabarhiṇavājitaiḥ |
三阇耶说道：婆罗多啊，大地遍布被斩碎的华盖、倒落的旌旗、金柄的牦尾拂尘；又有弃置的象钩与散乱的鞍饰器具。随后，他依次以三支箭“致敬”每一位武士——箭羽饰以迦ṅ库婆鸟之翎——令其痛楚难当。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the paradox of dharma in war: disciplined prowess and royal honorific imagery coexist with destruction. The act of ‘honouring’ with arrows suggests formal, rule-bound combat, yet the strewn insignia (parasols, banners, fans) reminds us that status and ceremony collapse under violence.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield littered with broken royal emblems and equipment. He then reports that a warrior (implied from context) pierces prominent opponents—named in the Hindi gloss—each with three feather-adorned arrows, causing them particular distress.