Shloka 29
आयोधनदर्शनम्
Viewing the Battlefield of Kurukṣetra
अवध्यकल्पान् निहतान् गतसत्त्वानचेतस: । गृधप्रकडुकवटश्येनश्वशृूगालादनीकृतान्,“जो अवध्य समझे जाते थे, वे भी मारे गये और अचेत एवं प्राणशून्य होकर यहाँ पड़े हैं। गीध, कंक, बटेर, बाज, कुत्ते और सियार उन्हें अपना आहार बना रहे हैं
avadhyakalpān nihatān gatasattvān acetasaḥ | gṛdhaprakaḍukavaṭaśyenaśvaśṛgālādanīkṛtān ||
毗湿摩波罗衍那说道：“那些曾被认为几乎不可杀的，也都被杀了。如今他们无知无觉、气息全无，横陈于此，成了猎物——为秃鹫、鹭、鹌鹑、鹰、狗与豺狼所食。”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of human power and reputation: even those believed ‘unslayable’ fall in war, and the body—once the seat of pride and prowess—becomes mere carrion. Ethically, it intensifies the Mahābhārata’s warning about the dehumanizing cost of violence and the impermanence of worldly might.
In the Strī Parva’s lament-filled aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, the narrator describes the battlefield scene: corpses of fallen heroes lie lifeless and unconscious, while scavenging animals and birds feed on them, heightening the horror and grief of the survivors.