Shloka 373
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
नदीं प्रवर्तयामास भीरूणां भयवर्धिनीम् | अर्जुनने कायरोंका भय बढ़ानेवाली वैतरणीके समान एक अत्यन्त भयंकर रौद्र और घोर रक्तकी नदी बहा दी, जो प्राणशून्य योद्धाओंके सैकड़ों निश्चेष्ट शरीरोंको बहाये लिये जाती थी। मज्जा और मेद ही उसकी कीचड़ थे। उसमें रक्तका ही प्रवाह था और रक्तकी ही तरंगें उठती थीं। वीरोंके मर्मस्थान एवं हड्डियोंसे व्याप्त हुई वह नदी अगाध जान पड़ती थी। केश ही उस नदीके सेवार और घास थे। योद्धाओंके कटे हुए मस्तक और भुजाएँ ही किनारेके छोटे-छोटे प्रस्तरखण्डोंका काम देती थीं। टूटी हुई छातीकी हड्डियोंसे वह दुर्गम हो रही थी। विचित्र ध्वज और पताकाएँ उसके भीतर पड़ी हुई थीं। छत्र और धनुषरूपी तरंगमालाओंसे वह अलंकृत थी। प्राणशून्य प्राणी ही उसके विशाल शरीरके अवयव थे, हाथियोंकी लाशोंसे वह भरी हुई थी, रथरूपी सैकड़ों नौकाएँ उसपर तैर रही थीं, घोड़ोंके समूह उसके तट थे, रथके पहिये, जूए, ईषादण्ड, धुरी और कूबर आदिके कारण वह नदी अत्यन्त दुर्गग जान पड़ती थी। प्रास, खड्ग, शक्ति, फरसे और बाणरूपी सर्पोसे युक्त होनेके कारण उसके भीतर प्रवेश करना कठिन था। कौए और कंक आदि जनन््तु उसके भीतर निवास करनेवाले बड़े-बड़े नक्र (घड़ियाल) थे। गीदड़रूपी मगरोंके निवाससे उसकी उग्रता और बढ़ गयी थी। गीध ही उसमें प्रचण्ड एवं बड़े-बड़े ग्राह थे। गीदड़ियोंके चीत्कारसे वह नदी बड़ी भयानक प्रतीत होती थी। नाचते हुए प्रेत-पिशाचादि सहस्रों भूतोंसे वह व्याप्त थी
sañjaya uvāca | nadīṁ pravartayāmāsa bhīrūṇāṁ bhayavardhinīm | arjunena vaitaraṇī-samāṁ ghoraṁ raudraṁ ca raktasya nadīṁ pravāhitāṁ, yā prāṇaśūnya-yoddhṛ-śatair niśceṣṭa-śarīrair vahyamānā babhūva | majjā-medo-mayī paṅkā, raktapravāhā raktormimayī ca | vīra-marmāsthi-vyāptā sā agādhā iva dṛśyate | keśāḥ śaivālā iva tṛṇāni ca | chinna-mastaka-bāhavaḥ kūla-śilā-khaṇḍa-sadṛśāḥ | bhagna-uras-asthi-saṅghātair durgā | citra-dhvaja-patākābhiḥ saṁkīrṇā | chatra-dhanuḥ-taraṅga-mālābhiḥ alaṅkṛtā | prāṇaśūnya-prāṇinaḥ eva mahā-śarīrāṅgāni, gaja-śavair pūrṇā | ratha-śata-naukāḥ tasyāṁ plavante | aśva-gaṇāḥ taṭāḥ | ratha-cakra-yuga-īṣā-daṇḍa-dhurī-kūbaraiḥ durgamā | prāsa-khaḍga-śakti-paraśu-bāṇa-sarpa-yuktatvāt praveśe duḥsahā | kāka-kaṅkādayaḥ mahā-nakrā iva nivāsinaḥ | śṛgāla-makara-nivāsāt ugrataraḥ | gṛdhrāḥ pracaṇḍā mahā-grāhāḥ | śṛgālī-cīt-kāraiḥ bhīṣaṇā | nṛtyadbhiḥ preta-piśācādibhiḥ sahasraśo bhūtaiḥ vyāptā ||
Sanjaya said: Arjuna set in motion a river that increased the terror of the fearful—like the Vaitaraṇī itself—an exceedingly dreadful, wrathful, and ghastly river of blood. It carried along hundreds of motionless bodies of warriors bereft of life. Marrow and fat were its mire; blood was its current and blood its surging waves. Filled with vital organs and bones of heroes, it seemed unfathomable. Hair served as its algae and grass; severed heads and arms lay like small stones along its banks. Broken ribs made it hard to cross. Strange banners and pennants were strewn within it, and it was adorned with garlands of waves made of umbrellas and bows. Lifeless creatures formed its huge limbs; it was packed with elephant-carcasses. Hundreds of chariots floated upon it like boats; masses of horses marked its shores. Wheels, yokes, poles, axles, and chariot-parts made it perilously impassable. Spears, swords, lances, axes, and arrows were like serpents, making entry difficult. Crows and herons were its great crocodiles; jackals were its makaras, increasing its ferocity; vultures were its mighty gharials. The river seemed most frightful with the howling of she-jackals, and it was pervaded by thousands of dancing spirits—pretas, piśācas, and other beings. Ethically, the passage is a deliberate horror-vision of war: it does not glorify slaughter but forces the listener to confront the karmic and human cost of adharma-driven conflict, where the battlefield becomes a moral underworld and fear itself becomes a weapon.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage functions as a moral shock: war, even when fought by great heroes, turns the world into a hell-like landscape. By likening the battlefield to the Vaitaraṇī, the text underscores the ethical cost of violence and the way adharma-driven conflict dehumanizes all sides, making fear and death the dominant ‘currents’.
Sanjaya describes Arjuna’s onslaught as creating a metaphorical ‘river of blood’ on the battlefield—filled with corpses, weapons, broken chariots, and scavenging animals—so terrifying that it resembles the otherworldly Vaitaraṇī. The imagery conveys the scale of slaughter and the panic it spreads among the opposing troops.