तांस् तथा व्याकुलीकृत्य त्वरमाणो धनंजयः ॥
जघान निशितैर् बाणैः सहस्राणि शतानि च ॥
शिरांसि भल्लैर् अहरद् बाहून् अपि च सायुधान् ॥
हस्तिहस्तोपमांश् चोरूञ् शरैर् उर्व्याम् अपातयत् ॥
पृष्ठच्छिन्नान् विचरणान् विमस्तिष्केक्षणाङ्गुलीन् ॥
नानाङ्गावयवैर् हीनांश् चकारारीन् धनंजयः ॥
tāṃs tathā vyākulīkṛtya tvaramāṇo dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
jaghāna niśitair bāṇaiḥ sahasrāṇi śatāni ca ||
śirāṃsi bhallair aharad bāhūn api ca sāyudhān ||
hastihastopamāṃś corūñ śarair urvyām apātayat ||
pṛṣṭhacchinnān vicaraṇān vimastiṣkekṣaṇāṅgulīn ||
nānāṅgāvayavair hīnāṃś cakārārīn dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
Having thus utterly disordered them, Dhananjaya, without delay, destroyed them with honed arrows by the hundreds and thousands. With bhalla shafts he struck off heads and arms — still holding their weapons; and thighs thick as an elephant's trunk he brought down to earth with his arrows. With backs cleft asunder, legless, without brains, eyes, or fingers, deprived of one or another part of the body, Dhananjaya made the foes.
a9ddde0b5285 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
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The tradition does not turn its gaze from the terrible flesh of war: cleft bodies, severed arms still clutching their weapons, thighs collapsed to the ground. In this unadorned precision there is no relish in blood, but sober testimony to the true cost of battle. It is significant that arms fall while still gripping their weapons: the weapon did not save them, and the very grip upon it proved futile. The verse teaches that war is no glorious spectacle but the destruction of living flesh, and that one who perceives its true face is not seduced by the glory of victory; and though duty at times demands even this, to see war as it truly is means not to desire it beyond necessity, and to remember at what price even a righteous triumph is bought.