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Shloka 11

Devanagari script

शरीरसंघातवहा हा[सृग्जला रथोडुपा कुज्जरशैलसड्कटा । मनुष्यशीर्षोपलमांसकर्दमा प्रविद्धनानाविधशस्त्रमालिनी,उस समय श्रेष्ठ योद्धाओंने रणभूमिमें रक्तकी नदी बहा दी, जो वैतरणीके समान दुष्कर एवं भयंकर प्रतीत होती थी। उसमें जलकी जगह रक्तकी ही धारा बहती थी। ढेर-के-ढेर शरीर उसमें बह रहे थे। उसमें तैरते हुए रथ नावके समान जान पड़ते थे। हाथियोंके शरीर वहाँ पर्वतकी चट्टानोंके समान व्याप्त हो रहे थे। मनुष्योंकी खोपड़ियाँ प्रस्तरखण्डोंके समान और मांस कीचड़के समान जान पड़ते थे। वहाँ टूटे-फूटे पड़े हुए नाना प्रकारके शस्त्रसमूह मालाओंके समान प्रतीत होते थे। वह अत्यन्त भयंकर नदी रणक्षेत्रके मध्यभागमें बहती और मृतकों तथा जीवितोंको भी बहा ले जाती थी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

śarīrasaṅghātavahā hā-sṛgjalā rathodupā kuñjarśaila-saṅkaṭā |

manuṣyaśīrṣopalamāṃsakardamā praviddha-nānāvidha-śastramālinī ||

Translation

Sanjaya said: At that time the foremost warriors caused a river of blood to flow across the battlefield—hard to cross and terrifying, like the Vaitaraṇī. In place of water it ran with streams of blood; heaps of bodies were borne along in its current. Chariots seemed like boats upon it, and the bodies of elephants lay like rocky hills. Human skulls looked like stones, flesh like mire, and shattered weapons of many kinds appeared like garlands strewn upon it. That dreadful river coursed through the middle of the field, sweeping away not only the dead but even the living—an image of war’s moral horror and the ruin that follows when violence overwhelms restraint.

Word by Word

शरीरbody

संघातmass/heap

वहाcarrying/bearing

हाalas!/ah!

सृक्blood (gore)

जलाwaters

रथchariots

उडुपाboats

कुञ्जरelephants

शैलrocks/mountains

संकटाdifficult/impassable

मनुष्यof men

शीर्षheads/skulls

उपलstones/pebbles

मांसflesh

कर्दमाmud

प्रविद्धpierced/stuck in

नानाvarious

विधkind/type (in kind)

शस्त्रweapon

मालिनीgarlanded/filled with garlands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Vaitaraṇī (river of the afterlife, simile)

battlefield (raṇabhūmi/raṇakṣetra implied)

chariots (ratha)

elephants (kuñjara)

weapons (śastra)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses stark metaphor to expose the ethical cost of war: when violence dominates, the battlefield becomes like the Vaitaraṇī—an infernal passage—where even the living are swept away. It implicitly warns that adharma and unchecked fury turn human skill and heroism into collective ruin.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes the Kurukṣetra fighting at its most horrific intensity: blood flows like a river; bodies drift like debris; chariots seem like boats; elephants resemble rocky hills; skulls and flesh form stones and mud; broken weapons lie like garlands—conveying a battlefield that consumes both dead and living.