ते भीता मृद्यमानाश् च प्रमृष्टा दीर्घबाहुना ॥
आयोधनं जहुर् वीरा दृष्ट्वा तम् अतिमानुषम् ॥
रथैर् विमथिताक्षैश् च भग्ननीडैश् च मारिष ॥
चक्रैर् विमथितैश् छिन्नैर् ध्वजैश् च विनिपातितैः ॥
अनुकर्षैः पताकाभिः शिरस्त्राणैः सकाञ्चनैः ॥
बाहुभिश् चन्दनादिग्धैः साङ्गदैश् च विशां पते ॥
हस्तिहस्तोपमैश् चापि भुजगाभोगसंनिभैः ॥
ऊरुभिः पृथिवी छन्ना मनुजानां नरोत्तम ॥
te bhītā mṛdyamānāś ca pramṛṣṭā dīrghabāhunā ||
āyodhanaṃ jahur vīrā dṛṣṭvā tam atimānuṣam ||
rathair vimathitākṣaiś ca bhagnanīḍaiś ca māriṣa ||
cakrair vimathitaiś chinnair dhvajaiś ca vinipātitaiḥ ||
anukarṣaiḥ patākābhiḥ śirastrāṇaiḥ sakāñcanaiḥ ||
bāhubhiś candanādigdhaiḥ sāṅgadaiś ca viśāṃ pate ||
hastihastopamaiś cāpi bhujagābhogasaṃnibhaiḥ ||
ūrubhiḥ pṛthivī channā manujānāṃ narottama ||
Frightened and trampled, ground down by the long-armed one, the heroes left the field of battle upon seeing him, superhuman. With chariots of shattered axles and bodies, O worthy one, with wheels shattered and splintered, with banners cast down, with poles, pennants, gold-adorned helmets, arms anointed with sandalwood and bracelets, O lord of peoples, and with the thighs of men, like elephants' trunks and resembling the coils of a serpent -- the earth was strewn, O best of men.
700735e1c06a · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:02:23 PM UTC
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The battlefield is drawn in the detail of beauty-in-horror: arms "candanādigdhaiḥ sāṅgadaiḥ", anointed with sandalwood and adorned with bracelets, now lie severed. It is telling that the epic does not turn its gaze away from the cost of war. The verse teaches that battle turns what was adorned with life into a heap of torn flesh; and to behold this is not admiration but a bitter reminder of what strife costs: arms anointed with sandal and bodies once blooming with beauty become the ornament of a field of the dead.