Mahabharata 7.21.42 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 42
द्रोणविक्रमदर्शनम् / The Display of Droṇa’s Onslaught and the Debate on Pāṇḍava Regrouping
मनुष्यशीर्षपाषाणां शक्तिमीनां गदोडुपाम् । उष्णीषफेनवसनां विकीर्णान्त्रसरीसृपाम्
sañjaya uvāca |
manuṣyaśīrṣapāṣāṇāṁ śaktimīnāṁ gadodupām |
uṣṇīṣaphenavasanāṁ vikīrṇāntrasarīsṛpām ||
Sañjaya sprach: Auf jenem Schlachtfeld wogte ein schrecklicher Strom des Gemetzels: Menschenköpfe glichen Steinen am Grund; Speere bewegten sich wie Fische; Keulen waren wie Boote auf der Oberfläche; Turbane und Gewänder glänzten wie Schaum; und verstreute Eingeweide wanden sich wie Schlangen. Das Bild drängt den ethischen Schrecken des Krieges auf: Wird Tapferkeit an Massenmord gekettet, wird das Feld zur Flut, die alle gleichermaßen dem Tod zutreibt, ohne nach Partei zu fragen.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is not a doctrinal instruction but an ethical warning through imagery: war reduces human bodies and heroic instruments into grotesque ‘natural’ features of a death-river. It underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension—kṣatriya duty and prowess may be praised, yet the cost in suffering and dehumanization is starkly exposed.
Sañjaya reports the battlefield scene in Droṇa Parva using an extended metaphor: the combat zone appears like a terrifying river where heads are stones, spears are fish, maces are boats, turbans are foam, and entrails are serpents—conveying the overwhelming carnage and chaos of the fighting.
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