Shloka 343
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
घोरमायोधन जज्ञे प्रेतताजपुरोपमम् । जो उनमें प्रवेश करते
sañjaya uvāca | ghoram āyodhanaṃ jajñe pretarāja-puro'upamam |
Sañjaya said: “A dreadful battlefield came into being, resembling the city of the Lord of the Dead. It was so terrifying that it seemed like Yama’s own realm; whoever entered it felt as though it swallowed them up, planting fear in the hearts of the kṣatriyas. With the roaring cries of flesh-eating beasts, that place of war looked like Yama’s city.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the battlefield as Yama’s city to highlight the moral gravity of war: when combat becomes overwhelmingly lethal, it evokes the realm of death itself, stirring fear even in kṣatriyas and reminding the listener that violence carries a profound ethical and existential weight.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting has become extremely horrific; the battlefield appears like the city of the Lord of the Dead, conveying the scale of slaughter and the terror pervading the scene.