Mahabharata 7.21.41 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 41
द्रोणविक्रमदर्शनम् / The Display of Droṇa’s Onslaught and the Debate on Pāṇḍava Regrouping
शरौधिणीं धनु:स््रोतां बाहुपन्नगसंकुलाम् । रणभूमिवहां तीव्रां कुरुसूजजयवाहिनीम्
śaraughiṇīṁ dhanuḥ-srotāṁ bāhu-pannaga-saṅkulām | raṇabhūmi-vahāṁ tīvrāṁ kuru-sūjaya-vāhinīm ||
Sañjaya dit : Ce fleuve avait pour courant les flèches, pour bras les arcs, et il était encombré de bras tranchés comme des serpents d’eau. Il se ruait à grande vitesse à travers le champ de bataille, emportant à la fois les Kurus et les Sūjayas.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is not a doctrinal instruction but an ethical-literary warning: it forces the listener to confront the true cost of war. By turning the battlefield into a ‘river’ of blood and body-parts, it underscores impermanence, the inevitability of death, and the terrifying momentum of violence that sweeps away both sides—challenging any romanticization of kṣatriya glory.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Droṇa’s fighting has made the battlefield resemble a catastrophic river. Using extended metaphor, he describes weapons, armor, animals, and corpses as features of a raging stream that carries away Kurus and their opponents, while scavengers and piśācas gather—signaling the battle’s peak brutality.
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