Shloka 43

Adhyāya 16: Saṃśaptaka-vrata and the Diversion of Arjuna (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६)

Devanagari script

शोणितोदां रथावर्ता कृत्वा विशसने नदीम्‌ | शूरास्थिचयसंकीर्णा प्रेतकूलापहारिणीम्‌

Transliteration

śoṇitodāṃ rathāvartāṃ kṛtvā viśasane nadīm | śūrāsthicayasaṃkīrṇāṃ pretakūlāpahāriṇīm

Translation

قال سنجيا: في ميدان المذبحة ذاك صنعوا نهرًا ماؤه دمٌ ودوّاماته عرباتٌ—مبعثرًا بأكوام عظام الأبطال، يجرف حتى ضفاف الموتى. إن هذه الصورة تكشف كلفة الحرب الأخلاقية: فالبأس والطموح، إذا انفلتَا من الكبح، يحوّلان ساحة القتال إلى تيارٍ يحمل معه الحياة والكرامة والطقوس الواجبة للصرعى.

Word by Word

• शोणितोदाम्: having blood as water / blood-watered
• शोणितोदाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोणित-उद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• रथावर्ताम्: having chariots as eddies/whirlpools
• रथावर्ताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रथ-आवर्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कृत्वा: having made
• कृत्वा: Karana
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral)

• विशसने: in the slaughter
• विशसने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विशसन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• नदीम्: a river
• नदीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• शूरास्थिचयसंकीर्णाम्: strewn with heaps of heroes’ bones
• शूरास्थिचयसंकीर्णाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शूर-अस्थि-चय-संकीर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रेतकूलापहारिणीम्: carrying away the banks/edges with corpses (i.e., lined with the dead / corpse-bearing)
• प्रेतकूलापहारिणीम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रेत-कूल-अपहारिणी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• battlefield (viśasana)
• river (nadī)
• blood (śoṇita)
• chariots (ratha)
• heroes/warriors (śūra)
• bones (asthi)
• the dead (preta)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses stark metaphor to expose the ethical gravity of war: when killing becomes a ‘river,’ it sweeps away not only bodies but also the social and ritual order (the ‘banks’), reminding the listener that dharma is strained and human cost is irreversible even amid claims of heroism.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports the carnage of the battle by portraying the battlefield as a river: blood as water, chariots as whirlpools, heaps of warriors’ bones scattered throughout, and the dead carried off like eroding riverbanks—an intensified description of the day’s slaughter in Droṇa Parva.