Shloka 493
Śiva’s Battlefield Manifestation and Vyāsa’s Śatarudrīya Exposition (शिवप्रादुर्भावः शतरुद्रीयव्याख्यानम्)
प्रावर्तत नदी घोरा शोणितौघतरड्)िणी । माननीय नरेश! इस प्रकार जब आपके पुत्रकी उस सेनाका वध होने लगा, तब वहाँ रक्तराशिके प्रवाहसे तरंगित होनेवाली एक भयंकर नदी बह चली
sañjaya uvāca | prāvartata nadī ghorā śoṇitaugha-taraṅgiṇī | mānanīya nareśa! evaṁ yadā tava putrasya senāyā vadho 'bhavat, tadā tatra rakta-rāśeḥ pravāhena taraṅgitā bhayaṅkarī nadī pravavāha |
Sañjaya said: “A dreadful river began to flow there, its waves formed by torrents of blood. O venerable king, when the slaughter of your son’s army commenced in this manner, the battlefield itself seemed to pour forth a terrifying stream, rippling with the current of piled-up blood.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and human cost of adharma-driven war: violence unleashed at scale turns the battlefield into a symbol of collective consequence, where blood itself becomes a ‘river,’ reminding the listener (the king) that choices rooted in attachment and ambition culminate in catastrophic suffering.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that as the fighting intensifies and the destruction of the Kaurava forces (the king’s son’s army) begins in earnest, the scene becomes so gruesome that it is poetically described as a terrifying river flowing with waves made from torrents of blood.