Shloka 5
अध्याय २९: कर्णस्य शल्यं प्रति शापस्मरणं च युद्धनिश्चयः | Chapter 29: Karṇa recalls curses to Śalya and declares resolve for battle
परिघमुसलशक्तितोमरै- नखरभुशुण्डिगदाशतैहता: । द्विरदनरहया: सहस्रशो रुधिरनदीप्रवहास्तदाभवन्,उस समय परिघ, मूसल, शक्ति, तोमर, नखर, भुशुण्डी और गदाओंकी सौ-सौ चोटें खाकर हजारों हाथी, मनुष्य और घोड़े खूनकी नदी बहाने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | parigha-muśala-śakti-tomarair nakhara-bhuśuṇḍi-gadā-śatair hatāḥ | dvirada-nara-hayāḥ sahasraśo rudhira-nadī-pravahās tadābhavan ||
Sañjaya dijo: Entonces, abatidos por cientos de golpes de mazas de hierro, mazos (mūsala), lanzas (śakti), jabalinas (tomara), armas semejantes a garras, bhuśuṇḍīs y porras (gadā), miles y miles de elefantes, hombres y caballos cayeron—hasta que el campo de batalla pareció derramar corrientes como ríos de sangre. El verso subraya el peso moral de la guerra: cuando el dharma se desploma en violencia sin freno, la victoria se compra al precio de un sufrimiento inmenso e indiscriminado.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a stark ethical reminder: warfare, even when framed as kṣatriya-duty, unleashes vast suffering that can overwhelm any claim of glory. By depicting 'rivers of blood,' the text presses the listener to recognize the human (and animal) cost when conflict escalates beyond restraint and dharma is strained.
Sañjaya reports the intensity of the fighting: countless elephants, warriors, and horses are cut down by repeated strikes from multiple kinds of weapons, and the slaughter is so great that blood is imagined as flowing like rivers across the battlefield.