चामरैर् व्यजनैश् चित्रैर् ध्वजैश् चाश्वरथद्विपैः ॥
विविधैश् च परिस्तोमैर् अश्वानां च प्रकीर्णकैः ॥
कुथाभिश् च विचित्राभिर् वरूथैश् च महाधनैः ॥
संस्तीर्णां वसुधां पश्य चित्रपट्टैर् इवावृताम् ॥
नागेभ्यः पतितान् अन्यान् कल्पितेभ्यो द्विपैः सह ॥
सिंहान् वज्रप्रणुन्नेभ्यो गिर्यग्रेभ्य इव च्युतान् ॥
संस्यूतान् वाजिभिः सार्धं धरण्यां पश्य चापरान् ॥
पदातिसादिसंघांश् च क्षतजौघपरिप्लुतान् ॥
cāmarair vyajanaiś citrair dhvajaiś cāśvarathadvipaiḥ ||
vividhaiś ca paristomair aśvānāṃ ca prakīrṇakaiḥ ||
kuthābhiś ca vicitrābhir varūthaiś ca mahādhanaiḥ ||
saṃstīrṇāṃ vasudhāṃ paśya citrapaṭṭair ivāvṛtām ||
nāgebhyaḥ patitān anyān kalpitebhyo dvipaiḥ saha ||
siṃhān vajrapraṇunnebhyo giryagrebhya iva cyutān ||
saṃsyūtān vājibhiḥ sārdhaṃ dharaṇyāṃ paśya cāparān ||
padātisādisaṃghāṃś ca kṣatajaughapariplutān ||
"With whisks, with varied fans, and with banners, horses, chariots, elephants, and with various coverings, and with the plumes of horses, with varied saddle-cloths, and with precious chariot-shields, behold the earth strewn [with them] — as though covered with colorful cloths. Others fallen from adorned elephants, together with the elephants, like lions struck down by the thunderbolt, as though fallen from mountain peaks; and behold also others upon the earth, pierced together with their horses, and multitudes of foot soldiers and cavalry, drowned in streams of blood."
c04b9684d091 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:31:38 PM UTC
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The field is strewn with finery as with colorful cloth, while warriors have fallen like lions cast down from the peaks by the thunderbolt: the beauty of the image and the horror of the deed are fused together. It is telling that even the mighty, like lions, are brought low — nothing earthly has withstood. The verse teaches that war levels all in a common death — king and foot soldier, elephant and horse alike; and the colorful shroud of the field, woven of corpses and treasures, is the visible outcome of pride, which has turned the living into a carpet of blood.