Shloka 13

Vāsudeva-Māhātmya: Duryodhana’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Theological Account of Keśava

Devanagari script

वराश्चनरनागानां शरीरप्रभवा तदा | परलोकार्णवमुखी गृध्रगोमायुमोदिनी

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

varāś ca nara-nāgānāṃ śarīra-prabhavā tadā |

paralokārṇava-mukhī gṛdhra-gomāyu-modinī ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Alors surgit un fleuve né des corps des sangliers, des hommes et des éléphants, s’écoulant vers l’océan de l’au-delà. Il réjouissait les vautours et les chacals. Sur le champ de bataille, la rivière de sang se mit à couler avec une grande violence, effrayante à contempler ; les corps des éléphants y semblaient des blocs de roche, et le sang mêlé de chair, une boue. De ces vastes dépouilles d’éléphants, de chevaux et d’hommes, le fleuve avait pris naissance, et il se dirigeait vers la mer du monde d’après, pour la seule joie des charognards.

Word by Word

• वराः: excellent, choice
• वराः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• नरनागानाम्: of the man-elephants (elephants among men / great elephants)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरनाग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• शरीरप्रभवाः: arising from bodies
• शरीरप्रभवाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शरीरप्रभव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)

• परलोकार्णवमुखी: having its mouth/opening toward the ocean of the other world
• परलोकार्णवमुखी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परलोकार्णवमुखी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• गृध्रगोमायुमोदिनी: delighting vultures and jackals
• गृध्रगोमायुमोदिनी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गृध्रगोमायुमोदिनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• battlefield (raṇakṣetra)
• river of blood and flesh (implied)
• paraloka (the other world)
• arṇava (ocean)
• vultures (gṛdhra)
• jackals (gomāyu)
• boars (varāḥ)
• men (narāḥ)
• elephants (nāgāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses stark imagery to show the moral cost of war: slaughter turns life into a ‘river’ that carries beings toward death (paraloka). It underscores impermanence and the karmic gravity of violence—only scavengers benefit, while humans incur suffering and loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates the Kurukṣetra carnage: a figurative river, born from the bodies of men and elephants (and other creatures), flows toward the ‘ocean of the other world,’ while vultures and jackals are pleased—emphasizing the battlefield’s horror.