Shloka 8
सुदुर्गमा सुविषमा घोरात्यर्थ सुदुर्दशा । रणभूमिरभूद् राजन् महावैतरणी यथा
sudurgamā suviṣamā ghorātyartha sudurdaśā | raṇabhūmir abhūd rājan mahāvaitaraṇī yathā ||
Sañjaya said: O King, the battlefield became utterly impassable and treacherous—terrifying beyond measure, a scene of extreme calamity—like the great Vaitaraṇī itself. The comparison underscores how war, once unleashed, turns into a hell-like passage where suffering overwhelms all ordinary human limits.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and existential cost of war: when violence dominates, the world becomes like a hell-crossing—dangerous, chaotic, and saturated with suffering—implying a warning about adharma and the consequences of unchecked conflict.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has turned extraordinarily perilous and dreadful, using the image of the great Vaitaraṇī to convey the scale of terror and devastation unfolding in the fighting.