Shloka 50

Devanagari script

प्रावर्तयत संग्रामे शोणितोदां महानदीम्‌ । मध्येन कुरुसैन्यानां पाण्डवानां च भारत

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

prāvartayat saṅgrāme śoṇitodāṃ mahānadīm |

madhyena kuru-sainyānāṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca bhārata ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Mitten im Kampf setzte Arjuna einen mächtigen Strom in Bewegung, dessen Wasser Blut war; er floss zwischen den Heeren der Kurus und der Pāṇḍavas, o Bhārata. Das Bild macht den schrecklichen moralischen Preis des Krieges sichtbar: Selbst wenn er für ein gerechtes Ziel geführt wird, ist das Feld von Leid getränkt, und heldische Tatkraft wird untrennbar von der Tragödie, die sie hervorbringt.

Word by Word

• प्रावर्तयत्: set in motion / caused to flow
• प्रावर्तयत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-√वृत् (वर्तयति)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect), परस्मैपद, 3, singular

• संग्रामे: in battle
• संग्रामे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संग्राम
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• शोणित-उदाम्: having blood as water / blood-watered
• शोणित-उदाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोणितोद (शोणित + उद)
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• महानदीम्: a great river
• महानदीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: महानदी (महत् + नदी)
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• मध्येन: through the middle / in the midst
• मध्येन: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मध्य
• Form: neuter, instrumental, singular

• कुरु-सैन्यानाम्: of the Kuru armies
• कुरु-सैन्यानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरुसैन्य (कुरु + सैन्य)
• Form: neuter, genitive, plural

• पाण्डवानाम्: of the Pandavas
• पाण्डवानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• भारत: O Bharata (descendant of Bharata)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhārata (Dhṛtarāṣṭra addressed)
• Kuru army
• Pāṇḍava army
• Arjuna (implied by context/tradition of the passage)
• battlefield (Kurukṣetra, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a stark metaphor—battle as a river of blood—to highlight the grave ethical weight of warfare. Even when undertaken as kṣatriya duty, violence produces immense suffering, demanding sobriety, responsibility, and discernment about dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the intensity of the fighting: amid the Kuru and Pāṇḍava forces, the warrior’s arrow-storm drives opponents back and the slaughter is so great that it is pictured as a vast river of blood flowing between the two armies.