उपायैः पूर्ववधकथनम् / Strategic Justifications for Prior Eliminations
भौमं॑ रजो<थ राजेन्द्र शोणितेन प्रणाशितम्
bhaumaṃ rajo ’tha rājendra śoṇitena praṇāśitam
Sañjaya dit : «Alors, ô roi des rois, la poussière née de la terre fut effacée par le sang : tant le carnage se répandit, épais, sur le sol, que la brume même de la poussière du combat disparut.»
संजय उवाच
The verse underscores the dehumanizing extremity of war: when blood becomes so abundant that it suppresses even the dust of the earth, it signals a collapse of ordinary moral and natural order, prompting reflection on the ethical cost of conflict even within kṣatriya-duty.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting has become so intense and bloody that the usual battlefield dust-cloud is no longer visible—overwhelmed and ‘erased’ by blood soaking and spreading across the ground.