पुनश् चैव शतेनास्य संरुरोध महारथम् ॥
तम् अर्जुनस् तु विंशत्या विव्याध युधि भारत ॥
अथेतरान् महेष्वासांस् त्रिभिस् त्रिभिर् अविध्यत ॥
संवार्य तान् बाणगणैर् युधि राजन् धनंजयः ॥
अवधीत् तावकान् योधान् वज्रपाणिर् इवासुरान् ॥
भुजैश् छिन्नैर् महाराज शरीरैश् च सहस्रशः ॥
समास्तीर्णा धरा तत्र बभौ पुष्पैर् इवाचिता ॥
स विद्ध्वा शकुनिं भूयः पञ्चभिर् नतपर्वभिः ॥
उलूकं त्रिभिर् आजघ्ने त्रिभिर् एव महायसैः ॥
punaś caiva śatenāsya saṃrurodha mahāratham ||
tam arjunas tu viṃśatyā vivyādha yudhi bhārata ||
athetarān maheṣvāsāṃs tribhis tribhir avidhyata ||
saṃvārya tān bāṇagaṇair yudhi rājan dhanaṃjayaḥ ||
avadhīt tāvakān yodhān vajrapāṇir ivāsurān ||
bhujaiś chinnair mahārāja śarīraiś ca sahasraśaḥ ||
samāstīrṇā dharā tatra babhau puṣpair ivācitā ||
sa viddhvā śakuniṃ bhūyaḥ pañcabhir nataparvabhiḥ ||
ulūkaṃ tribhir ājaghne tribhir eva mahāyasaiḥ ||
[Shakuni] pierced Arjuna with sharp arrows, as though chuckling, and again checked him, the great warrior, with a hundred. Him, Arjuna -- with twenty pierced in battle, O Bharata. Then the other great archers he pierced with three each, having repelled them with masses of arrows; in battle, O king, Dhananjaya struck down your warriors like the Thunder-wielder [Indra] -- the asuras. With severed arms, O great king, and with bodies by the thousands, the strewn earth there shone, as though strewn with flowers.
4ae23aa7399b · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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The earth, strewn with severed arms and bodies, 'shines as though strewn with flowers': an extreme image of war that turns slaughter into a grim beauty. It is significant that Arjuna is compared to Indra smiting the asuras: the battle is raised to the level of a cosmic struggle against the powers of darkness. The verse teaches that the epic does not hide the horror of war, yet does not revel in it either: it shows its duality -- a field of death blooming like a meadow -- so that the mind recoils before the price of every victory.