Shloka 27

इन्द्रप्रशंसा, दिव्योपकरणदानं, गन्धमादनसमागमश्च

Indra’s Commendation, Bestowal of Divine Insignia, and the Gandhamādana Reunion

Devanagari script

तेषां छिन्नानि गात्राणि विसृजन्ति सम शोणितम्‌ | प्रावषीवाभिवृष्टानि शुज्भाण्यथ धराभूताम्‌,उनके कटे हुए अंग उसी प्रकार रक्तकी धारा बहाते थे, जैसे वर्षा-ऋतुमें वृष्टिके जलसे भीगे हुए पर्वतोंके शिखर (गेरू आदि धातुओंसे मिश्रित) जलकी धारा बहाते हैं

Transliteration

teṣāṃ chinnāni gātrāṇi visṛjanti samaśoṇitam | prāvṛṣīvābhivṛṣṭāni śṛṅgāṇy atha dharābhūtām ||

Translation

Arjuna said: “Their severed limbs poured forth streams of blood, just as mountain-peaks, drenched by the rains of the monsoon, send down rivulets—water tinged with the mountain’s red minerals—cascading over the earth.”

Word by Word

तेषाम्of them

छिन्नानिcut off, severed

गात्राणिlimbs, body-parts

विसृजन्तिemit, discharge, pour forth

समम्equally; in a continuous stream

शोणितम्blood

प्रावृषिin the rainy season

इवlike, as

अभिवृष्टानिrained upon, drenched

शृङ्गाणिpeaks, summits

अथthen; and

धराभूताम्having become streams on the earth; flowing down to the ground

Speaker

अजुन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Arjuna

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark reality and moral weight of violence: even when conflict is framed within kṣatriya duty, its consequences are gruesome and undeniable. The simile invites reflective awareness rather than glorification—seeing bloodshed as a natural-looking ‘flow’ only in imagery, while remaining ethically sobering in meaning.

What is happening in the narrative?

Arjuna describes a battlefield-like scene where bodies are being cut down; severed limbs gush blood. He conveys the scale and intensity through a monsoon image: rain-soaked mountain peaks sending down red-tinged streams over the earth.