Санджая
रुक्मपुङ्खैश् च संपूर्णा रुधिरौघपरिप्लुता ॥
उत्तमाङ्गैश् च वीराणां भ्राजमानैः सकुण्डलैः ॥
विचित्रैश् च परिस्तोमैः पताकाभिश् च संवृता ॥
चामरैश् च कुथाभिश् च प्रविद्धैश् चाम्बरोत्तमैः ॥
रथाश्वनरनागानाम् अलंकारैश् च सुप्रभैः ॥
खड्गैश् च निशितैः पीतैर् निर्मुक्तैर् भुजगैर् इव ॥
चापैश् च विशिखैश् छिन्नैः शक्त्यृष्टिप्रासकम्पनैः ॥
विविधैर् आयुधैश् चान्यैः संवृता भूर् अशोभत ॥
rukmapuṅkhaiś ca saṃpūrṇā rudhiraughapariplutā ||
uttamāṅgaiś ca vīrāṇāṃ bhrājamānaiḥ sakuṇḍalaiḥ ||
vicitraiś ca paristomaiḥ patākābhiś ca saṃvṛtā ||
cāmaraiś ca kuthābhiś ca praviddhaiś cāmbarottamaiḥ ||
rathāśvanaranāgānām alaṃkāraiś ca suprabhaiḥ ||
khaḍgaiś ca niśitaiḥ pītair nirmuktair bhujagair iva ||
cāpaiś ca viśikhaiś chinnaiḥ śaktyṛṣṭiprāsakampanaiḥ ||
vividhair āyudhaiś cānyaiḥ saṃvṛtā bhūr aśobhata ||
Strewn with gold-feathered arrows, drowned in streams of blood, strewn with the gleaming heads of heroes adorned with earrings, with variegated caparisons, banners, chowries, elephant-coverings, and scattered precious cloths; covered with the radiant adornments of chariots, horses, men, and elephants, with honed golden swords like sloughed snakeskin, with bows, hewn arrows, spears, javelins, lances, and every other kind of weapon — the earth gleamed.
26a1209468ef · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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The long inventory of carnage twice repeats "aśobhata", "shone" — and in this lies the whole horror: the field of death is described as adorned. Earrings on severed heads, the gold of arrows, precious fabrics, swords "like sloughed snakeskin" — the beauty of ornament is cast into blood. The verse does not admire the slaughter but exposes its perversity: what was made for the splendor of life has become the adornment of death. Here the verse teaches us to see beneath war's illusory magnificence its true nature — the squandering of everything precious.