Shloka 23
उत्पातवर्णनम् (Utpāta-varṇanam) — Catalogue of Portents
पृथिवी शोणितावर्ता ध्वजोडुपसमाकुला । कुरूणां वैशसे राजन् पाण्डवैः सह भारत,राजन्! भरतनन्दन! जब पाण्डवोंके साथ कौरवोंका हिंसात्मक संग्राम आरम्भ हो जायगा, उस समय धरतीपर रक्तकी नदियाँ बह चलेंगी, उनमें शोणितमयी भँवरें उठेंगी तथा रथकी ध्वजाएँ उन नदियोंके ऊपर छोटी-छोटी डोंगियोंके समान सब ओर व्याप्त दिखायी देंगी
pṛthivī śoṇitāvartā dhvajōḍupasamākulā | kurūṇāṃ vaiśase rājan pāṇḍavaiḥ saha bhārata ||
Vyāsa said: “O king, O Bhārata—when the Kurus plunge into slaughter together with the Pāṇḍavas, the earth will become a torrent of blood, churning with crimson whirlpools; and the chariot-banners will appear scattered everywhere upon those streams like little boats.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses stark prophetic imagery to condemn the dehumanizing scale of war: when dharma collapses into vengeance and factional hatred, the result is not honor but mass slaughter that stains the earth itself. It implicitly warns rulers that permitting adharma-driven conflict makes them responsible for a catastrophe beyond individual combat.
Vyāsa addresses the king and foretells the imminent Kurukṣetra conflict: the Kurus and Pāṇḍavas will engage in a violent massacre so intense that blood will seem to flow like rivers with whirlpools, and chariot banners will look like small boats scattered across those bloody currents.