Санджая
अभ्रच्छायाम् इव शरैः सैन्ये कृत्वा धनंजयः ॥
मुण्डार्धमुण्डजटिलान् अशुचीञ् जटिलाननान् ॥
म्लेच्छान् अशातयत् सर्वान् समेतान् अस्त्रमायया ॥
शरैश् च शतशो विद्धास् ते संघाः संघचारिणः ॥
प्राद्रवन्त रणे भीता गिरिगह्वरवासिनः ॥
गजाश्वसादिम्लेच्छानां पतितानां शतैः शरैः ॥
वडाः कङ्का वृका भूमाव् अपिबन् रुधिरं मुदा ॥
abhracchāyām iva śaraiḥ sainye kṛtvā dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
muṇḍārdhamuṇḍajaṭilān aśucīñ jaṭilānanān ||
mlecchān aśātayat sarvān sametān astramāyayā ||
śaraiś ca śataśo viddhās te saṃghāḥ saṃghacāriṇaḥ ||
prādravanta raṇe bhītā girigahvaravāsinaḥ ||
gajāśvasādimlecchānāṃ patitānāṃ śataiḥ śaraiḥ ||
vaḍāḥ kaṅkā vṛkā bhūmāv apiban rudhiraṃ mudā ||
Casting over the army a shadow, as from a cloud, with arrows, Dhananjaya [struck down] the shaven, the half-shaven, the matted-haired, the unclean, with matted hair on their faces. And pierced by hundreds of arrows, those hosts, moving in throngs, fled in the battle, frightened — dwellers of mountain caves. Of the mlecchas' elephants, horses, and riders, fallen [by] hundreds of arrows, herons, kankas, and wolves on the ground drank blood with joy.
4522100c4893 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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Again the scavengers, 'apiban rudhiraṃ mudā,' 'drank blood with joy': only creatures that feed on carrion rejoice. The countless foreign hosts flee, 'bhītāḥ,' frightened. It is telling that joy on the battlefield belongs only to the vultures. The verse teaches that the fruits of unrighteous war go not to men but to devourers of carrion: men perish or flee in terror, and only wolves and crows exult; and whoever remembers whose 'joy' reigns on the field of death will not call war glorious, for on it only decay triumphs.