Shloka 513
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 95 — Sātyaki’s Breakthrough and the Routing of Allied Contingents
देहेभ्यो राजपुत्राणां नागाश्चरथसादिनाम् । उस समय अर्जुनने वहाँ रक्तकी एक भयंकर नदी बहा दी, जो प्रलयकालकी नदीके समान डरावनी प्रतीत होती थी। उसमें पैदल मनुष्य, घोड़े, रथ और हाथियोंको बिछाकर मानो पुल तैयार किया गया था, बाणोंकी वर्षा ही नौकाके समान जान पड़ती थी। केश सेवार और घासके समान जान पड़ते थे। उस भयंकर नदीसे रक्त-प्रवाहकी ही तरंगें उठ रही थीं। कटी हुई अँगुलियाँ छोटी-छोटी मछलियोंके समान जान पड़ती थीं। हाथी, घोड़े और रथोंकी सवारी करनेवाले राजकुमारोंके शरीरोंसे बहनेवाले रक्तसे लबालब भरी हुई उस नदीको अर्जुनने स्वयं प्रकट किया था। उसमें हाथियोंकी लाशें व्याप्त हो रही थीं
sañjaya uvāca | dehebhyo rājaputrāṇāṃ nāgāś ca rathasādinām |
Sañjaya said: From the bodies of the princes—along with those who rode elephants and those who mounted chariots—blood poured forth in such measure that Arjuna seemed to have brought into being a dreadful river, terrifying like the flood at the end of an age. In that torrent, fallen foot-soldiers, horses, chariots, and elephants lay heaped as though forming a bridge; the unceasing shower of arrows appeared like boats upon it. Hair and severed ornaments drifted like reeds and grass; waves rose as pure surges of blood; and cut-off fingers seemed like tiny fish. Thus, by the carnage of battle, Arjuna manifested a river swollen with the blood of royal warriors, strewn everywhere with the corpses of elephants.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the grim cost of war even when fought under kṣatriya-dharma: heroic prowess can be awe-inspiring, yet it manifests as vast suffering and impermanence. The ethical tension is implicit—duty-driven combat produces catastrophic human loss.
Sanjaya describes Arjuna’s devastating assault: so many warriors and mounts fall that their blood is poetically imagined as a terrifying river, with bodies forming a ‘bridge’ and arrows likened to boats—an epic simile conveying the scale of slaughter.