विवृद्धस् तुमुलः शब्दो द्याम् अगच्छन् महास्वनः ॥
नानायुधनिकृत्तानां चेष्टताम् आतुरः स्वनः ॥
भूमाव् अश्रूयत महांस् तदासीत् कृपणं महत् ॥
पततां पतितानां च पत्त्यश्वरथहस्तिनाम् ॥
तेषु सर्वेष्व् अनीकेषु व्यतिषक्तेष्व् अनेकशः ॥
स्वे स्वाञ् जघ्नुः परे स्वांश् च स्वे परांश् च परान् परे ॥
वीरबाहुविसृष्टाश् च योधेषु च गजेषु च ॥
असयः प्रत्यदृश्यन्त वाससां नेजनेष्व् इव ॥
vivṛddhas tumulaḥ śabdo dyām agacchan mahāsvanaḥ ||
nānāyudhanikṛttānāṃ ceṣṭatām āturaḥ svanaḥ ||
bhūmāv aśrūyata mahāṃs tadāsīt kṛpaṇaṃ mahat ||
patatāṃ patitānāṃ ca pattyaśvarathahastinām ||
teṣu sarveṣv anīkeṣu vyatiṣakteṣv anekaśaḥ ||
sve svāñ jaghnuḥ pare svāṃś ca sve parāṃś ca parān pare ||
vīrabāhuvisṛṣṭāś ca yodheṣu ca gajeṣu ca ||
asayaḥ pratyadṛśyanta vāsasāṃ nejaneṣv iva ||
A swollen, tumultuous roar, great-sounding, rose to the sky; a painful groan of those writhing, cut down by all manner of weapons, was heard on the ground, great. Then there was a great, pitiful cry of those falling and fallen — foot soldiers, horses, chariots, elephants. In all those hosts, locked together many times over, one's own men struck their own, the enemy struck theirs, one's own struck the enemy, the enemy struck the enemy. Loosed by the arms of heroes, swords flickered upon warriors and elephants, like beaters at the washing of clothes.
2ede4c1d5315 · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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In the melee one's own men strike their own, swords flicker "like beaters washing clothes": a homely, peaceful image applied to slaughter. It is telling, this comparison — the everyday labor of a washerwoman and the labor of killers. The verse teaches that war turns destruction into a semblance of craft, into mechanical work without discrimination; and the likeness to peaceful washing only lays bare the monstrousness of slaughter becoming a habitual, almost ordinary occupation of the hands.