Ramayana — Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 55, Shloka 23
अकम्पन-प्रेषणम् तथा कपि-राक्षस-रणवर्णनम्
Akampana Dispatched; The Vanara–Rakshasa Battle and Omens
तेपरांश्चविनिघ्नन्तःस्वांश्चवानरराक्षसाः ।।।।रुधिरार्द्रांतदाचक्रुर्महींपङ्कानुलेपनाम् ।
tē parāṃś ca vinighnantaḥ svāṃś ca vānararākṣasāḥ | rudhirārdrāṃ tadā cakrur mahīṃ paṅkānulēpanām ||
Indem sie sowohl Feinde als auch die Eigenen niederschlugen, machten die Vānaras und die Rākṣasas die Erde blutnass, als wäre sie mit Schlamm bestrichen.
Not knowing enemies and own people the Vanaras and Rakshasas terminating drenched the mud with their blood and covered the earth.
FAQs
The verse underscores the karmic and social cost of indiscriminate violence: when right discrimination fails, even ‘victory’ becomes stained, and the common ground (earth) bears the suffering.
In the confusion, both sides kill indiscriminately, and the battlefield becomes drenched in blood.
Compassion and restraint are implied as absent necessities; their lack turns the earth itself into a witness of excess.