Shloka 36
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
नृत्यन्ति वै भूतगणा: सुतृप्ता मांसशोणितै: । पीत्वा च शोणितं तत्र वसां पीत्वा च भारत,वहाँ चारों ओर उठे हुए अगणित कबन्ध और रक्त-मांससे तृप्त हुए भूतगण नृत्य कर रहे थे। भारत! ये सब-के-सब रक्त तथा वसा पीकर छके हुए थे
nṛtyanti vai bhūtagaṇāḥ sutṛptā māṃsaśoṇitaiḥ | pītvā ca śoṇitaṃ tatra vasāṃ pītvā ca bhārata ||
Sañjaya dijo: «Por doquier, las huestes de espíritus, plenamente saciadas de carne y sangre, danzaban. ¡Oh Bhārata!, tras beber allí la sangre—y beber también la grasa—quedaron colmadas hasta el exceso».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as an ethical indictment of war’s dehumanizing aftermath: when slaughter dominates, the world is portrayed as attracting dark, predatory forces. It warns that adharma and unchecked violence lead not to glory but to horror and moral pollution.
Sañjaya describes a gruesome battlefield scene where innumerable corpses and gore lie about, and ghastly spirit-hosts (bhūtagaṇas) are imagined as dancing, having drunk blood and fat—an ominous, terrifying depiction of the carnage.