Shloka 13
Kurukṣetra-anudarśanam — Rāma-hradāḥ and the Question of Kṣatra Continuity (शान्ति पर्व, अध्याय ४८)
महता रथयुद्धेन कोटिश: क्षत्रिया हता: । तथाभूच्च मही कीर्णा क्षत्रियैर्वदतां वर
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | mahatā rathayuddhena koṭiśaḥ kṣatriyā hatāḥ | tathābhūc ca mahī kīrṇā kṣatriyair vadatāṃ vara |
尤提士提罗说道：“噢，言辞最善者（奎师那）啊，在那场浩大的战车之战中，亿万刹帝利被杀，彼时大地必定遍布、甚至被刹帝利的尸身所覆盖。”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral weight of mass violence: even a ‘righteous’ war leaves the earth burdened with death. Yudhiṣṭhira’s reflection prepares the ethical inquiry of Śānti Parva—how dharma is to be understood and lived after catastrophic loss.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses the foremost teacher (contextually, Kṛṣṇa) and imagines the scale of slaughter in the great chariot-battle, stating that the earth must have been strewn with the fallen kṣatriyas—an expression of shock and grief at the war’s aftermath.