Shloka 18
Kuru-Sainika-Āśvāsana and Vijayaghoṣaṇa
Reassuring the Kuru Soldiers; Proclaiming Victory
शरचापप्लवां घोरां केशशैवलशाद्धलाम् | तनुत्रोष्णीषसम्बाधां नागकूर्ममहाद्विपाम्
śaracāpaplavāṁ ghorāṁ keśaśaivalśāddhalām | tanutroṣṇīṣasambādhāṁ nāgakūrma-mahādvipām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: It was a dreadful torrent in which arrows and bows seemed to drift like little boats. Hair appeared within it like algae and river-grass. It was choked with warriors’ cuirasses and turbans, while elephants looked like turtles and great aquatic beasts. The scene evokes the moral horror of battle—where the instruments of heroism become debris, and living beings are reduced to images in a river of destruction.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim ethical cost of war: even symbols of valor (bows, arrows, armour) become mere floating wreckage, and life is reduced to lifeless imagery. It invites reflection on the suffering and dehumanization inherent in violent conflict.
The narrator depicts a terrifying scene like a flood or river filled with the remnants of battle—bows and arrows drifting, hair resembling weeds, armour and turbans clogging the flow, and elephants appearing like turtles or huge water-creatures.