SB 10.54.8 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

हस्ता: सासिगदेष्वासा: करभा ऊरवोऽङ्‍‍घ्रय: । अश्वाश्वतरनागोष्ट्रखरमर्त्यशिरांसि च ॥ ८ ॥

Verse text

hastāḥ sāsi-gadeṣv-āsāḥ karabhā ūravo ’ṅghrayaḥ aśvāśvatara-nāgoṣṭra- khara-martya-śirāṁsi ca

Synonyms

hastāḥ — hands ; sa — with ; asi — swords ; gadā — clubs ; iṣu — āsāḥ — bows ; karabhāḥ — fingerless hands ; ūravaḥ — thighs ; aṅghrayaḥ — legs ; aśva — of horses ; aśvatara — donkeys ; nāga — elephants ; uṣṭra — camels ; khara — wild asses ; martya — and humans ; śirāṁsi — heads ; ca — also .

Translation

Lying all around were thighs, legs and fingerless hands, along with hands clutching swords, clubs and bows, and also the heads of horses, donkeys, elephants, camels, wild asses and humans.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Lying all around were thighs, legs and fingerless hands, along with hands clutching swords, clubs and bows, and also the heads of horses, donkeys, elephants, camels, wild asses and humans. KB 10.54.8 The soldiers’ hands were severed along with their bows and arrows and clubs; arms were piled upon arms, thighs upon thighs, and horses upon horses. Similarly, other animals, such as camels, elephants and asses, as well as infantry soldiers, all fell with severed heads.

Purport

Karabhāḥ indicates the portion of the hand from the wrist to the base of the fingers. The same word may also indicate an elephant’s trunk, and thus in this verse the implication is that the thighs lying on the battlefield resembled the trunks of elephants.

Purport (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Karabha means part of the hand from the wrist to the little finger.

Purport (Jiva Goswami)

Karabhā means forearms in the context, though it means literally “from the wrist to root of fingers.” The forearms appeared like karabhas since they narrowed in a similar fashion.

Purport (Sanatana Goswami)

The weapons in the hand are mentioned according to the distance they inflict injury—from close to far: swords, clubs, arrows. The limbs are mentioned in order of the height from which they fell. The horses, donkeys and elephants were carriers of warriors and the camels, wild asses and humans carried weapons for fighting.