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

সেই বধক্ষেত্ৰত তেওঁলোকে যেন এখন নদী গঢ়ি তুলিলে—যাৰ পানী ৰক্ত, যাৰ ঘূৰ্ণি ৰথ; যি বীৰসকলৰ অস্থিৰ স্তূপেৰে ভৰপূৰ আৰু প্ৰেতসকলৰ তীৰকো ভাঙি উটুৱাই লৈ যায়।

Word by Word

शोणितोदाम्having blood as water / blood-watered

रथावर्ताम्having chariots as eddies/whirlpools

कृत्वाhaving made

विशसनेin the slaughter

नदीम्a river

शूरास्थिचयसंकीर्णाम्strewn with heaps of heroes’ bones

प्रेतकूलापहारिणीम्carrying away the banks/edges with corpses (i.e., lined with the dead / corpse-bearing)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

battlefield (viśasana)

river (nadī)

blood (śoṇita)

chariots (ratha)

heroes/warriors (śūra)

bones (asthi)

the dead (preta)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

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.