Shloka 38
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
अपोवाह रणे भीरून् कश्मलेनाभिसंवृतान् । यथा वैतरणी प्रेतान् प्रेतराजपुरं प्रति
apo vāha raṇe bhīrūn kaśmalenābhisaṃvṛtān | yathā vaitaraṇī pretān pretarājapuraṃ prati ||
Sañjaya dit : «Dans la bataille, il emportait les craintifs —ceux que recouvraient le désespoir et la confusion—, comme la Vaitaraṇī emporte les morts vers la cité du Seigneur des trépassés. Ainsi ce fleuve de sang chassait les timorés loin du champ de guerre, comme s’ils défaillaient.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the Vaitaraṇī simile to show that in a righteous war, inner weakness—kaśmala, a collapse of courage and clarity—can ‘carry’ a person away from duty as surely as death carries the departed. Ethical strength is portrayed as inseparable from steadfastness in one’s role.
Sañjaya describes a terrifying, blood-like current on the battlefield that causes frightened fighters, overwhelmed by panic and confusion, to be swept away from the combat zone—likened to the Vaitaraṇī transporting the dead toward Yama’s abode.