Shloka 44
योधग्राहवतीं संख्ये वहन्तीं यमसादनम् । क्षणेन पुरुषव्याप्र: प्रावर्तयत निम्नगाम्
sañjaya uvāca |
yodhagrāhavatīṃ saṅkhye vahantīṃ yamasādanam |
kṣaṇena puruṣavyāghraḥ prāvartayata nimnagām ||
Dijo Sañjaya: En aquella batalla se vio un río—atestado de “cocodrilos” guerreros—que corría hacia la morada de Yama. En un instante, Bhīmasena, tigre entre los hombres, puso en movimiento aquella corriente descendente: un río de sangre, terrible como la Vaitaraṇī, fácil de vadear para los firmes y difícil de cruzar para los temerosos, acrecentando el pavor de los pusilánimes en medio de la ruina de la guerra.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the image of a blood-river flowing toward Yama’s realm to underscore the moral gravity of war: violence rapidly becomes a current carrying beings toward death, and courage or fear shapes one’s ability to face that reality. It implicitly warns that adharma and cowardice make the passage through suffering ‘difficult,’ while steadiness and resolve make it ‘fordable’—a moral contrast highlighted by the Vaitaraṇī comparison in the traditional gloss.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield as if a river is flowing to the abode of Death, filled with ‘crocodiles’ in the form of warriors. In context, Bhīma’s fierce onslaught is said to have, in a moment, produced a terrifying ‘river of blood,’ likened to the Vaitaraṇī, amplifying panic among the timid.