Shloka 6.58.28
प्रहस्तवधः (The Slaying of Prahasta)
सामहीरुधिरौघेणप्रच्छन्नासम्प्रकाशते ।।।।सञ्छन्नामाधवेमासिपलाशैरिवपुष्पितैः ।
sā mahī rudhiraughena pracchannā samprakāśate | sañchannā māgha-māsi palāśair iva puṣpitaiḥ ||
That earth, covered in torrents of blood, seemed to gleam—like the ground in the month of Māgha veiled by blossoming palāśa flowers.
That battlefield drenched with blood shone bright as though veiled with blossoms of Palasa in the month of Magha.
It contrasts beauty of poetic image with horror of violence, urging discernment: dharma does not romanticize suffering, even when described artfully.
The narrator describes the battlefield’s appearance—blood makes the ground look bright, compared to seasonal flowers.
Satyadarśana (truthful seeing): facing the reality of war rather than hiding its brutality.