Shloka 29

कर्णस्य दानप्रतिज्ञा–शल्योपदेश–वाक्ययुद्धम्

Karna’s Gift-Vows, Shalya’s Counsel, and the Battle of Words

Devanagari script

क्षुण्णगात्रा महाराज विक्षिप्य च पुन: पुनः । अपरे व्यजनानीव विकश्राम्य निहता मृथे,कितने ही योद्धा हाथियोंद्वारा पकड़े जाकर उनके दाँतोंसे ही मार डाले गये। महाराज! बहुत-से विशालकाय गजराज सेनाके भीतर घुसकर कितने ही पैदलोंको सहसा पकड़कर उनके शरीरोंको बारंबार पटक-झटककर चूर-चूर कर देते और कितनोंको व्यजनोंके समान घुमाकर युद्धमें मार डालते थे

Transliteration

kṣuṇṇagātrā mahārāja vikṣipya ca punaḥ punaḥ | apare vyajanānīva vikāśrāmya nihatā mṛdhe ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“大王啊，有些战士四肢被碾碎，仍被擒住，一次又一次地抛掷；另一些则被旋转挥舞，如同手扇一般，在战场上被杀。许多魁伟的象王闯入军阵，猝然抓住步卒，将其身躯反复摔掼震荡，直至粉碎；又把一些人像扇子般抡转，旋即毙于鏖战之中。”

Word by Word

क्षुण्णगात्राःwith crushed bodies / crushed-limbed

महाराजO great king

विक्षिप्यhaving tossed/whirled

चand

पुनःagain

अपरेothers

व्यजनानिfans

इवlike/as if

विकश्राम्यhaving made (them) rest/settle; having swung about (contextual)

निहताःslain

मृथेin battle

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja')

warriors (unspecified combatants)

battlefield (mṛdha)

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 dehumanizing brutality of war: once battle is unleashed, bodies are treated as objects to be crushed, flung, and whirled. It implicitly warns that even when framed as kṣatriya duty, warfare carries grave ethical cost and widespread suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that in the fighting, some warriors are repeatedly seized and hurled, their limbs crushed; others are swung around ‘like hand-fans’ and killed. It is a vivid battlefield image of combatants being violently tossed and slain.