वनायुजान् पार्वतीयान् काम्बोजारट्टबाह्लिकान् ॥
स्थिरवालधिकर्णाक्षाञ् जवनान् साधुवाहिनः ॥
स्वारूढाञ् शिक्षितैर् योधैः शक्त्यृष्टिप्रासयोधिभिः ॥
विध्वस्तचामरकुथान् विप्रकीर्णप्रकीर्णकान् ॥
निरस्तजिह्वानयनान् निष्कीर्णान्त्रयकृद्घनान् ॥
हतारोहान् भिन्नभाण्डान् क्रव्यादगणमोदनान् ॥
निकृत्तवर्मकवचाञ् शकृन्मूत्रासृगाप्लुतान् ॥
निपातयन्न् अश्ववरांस् तावकान् सो ऽभ्यरोचत ॥
vanāyujān pārvatīyān kāmbojāraṭṭabāhlikān ||
sthiravāladhikarṇākṣāñ javanān sādhuvāhinaḥ ||
svārūḍhāñ śikṣitair yodhaiḥ śaktyṛṣṭiprāsayodhibhiḥ ||
vidhvastacāmarakuthān viprakīrṇaprakīrṇakān ||
nirastajihvānayanān niṣkīrṇāntrayakṛdghanān ||
hatārohān bhinnabhāṇḍān kravyādagaṇamodanān ||
nikṛttavarmakavacāñ śakṛnmūtrāsṛgāplutān ||
nipātayann aśvavarāṃs tāvakān so 'bhyarocata ||
Casting down your choice horses — from Vanayu, of mountain breed, of Kamboja, Aratta, and Bahlika, with sturdy tails, ears, and eyes, spirited, obedient in riding, with good riders — trained warriors fighting with shakti, riṣṭi, and prasa — with whisks and saddle-cloths torn off, with plumes scattered, with tongues and eyes lolling out, with entrails and liver spilled, with riders slain, with harness shattered, become the delight of packs of carrion-eaters, with mail and armor slashed, drenched in dung, urine, and blood — he shone.
a37a5fba12b3 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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After the enumeration of noble horses from many lands — Vanayu, Kamboja, Aratta — follows a merciless picture of their death: spilled entrails, blood, filth, a feast for carrion-eaters. Thus the tradition mourns the dumb creatures too: the nobility and bearing of the horses set off the cruelty of their fate. It is significant that the suffering of animals receives no less sorrowful attention than the death of men. The verse teaches that war destroys innocent creatures too, drawn without guilt into human strife; that a horse's nobility and beauty do not save it from a terrible fate on the field of battle; and that the tradition, not turning its gaze from the spilled entrails and blood of noble horses, shows a breadth of compassion that does not divide pain into "worthy" and "lesser" — for every fading life, even a dumb one, calls out for pity.