Shloka 38
हत्वा दशसहस््राणि गजानामनिवर्तिनाम् । नृणां शतसहसे द्वे दे शते चैव भारत,भारत! युद्धसे पीछे न हटनेवाले दस हजार गजराजों, दो लाख और दो सौ पैदल मनुष्यों, पाँच हजार घोड़ों और सौ रथोंको नष्ट करके भीमसेनने वहाँ रक्तकी नदी बहा दी
sañjaya uvāca | hatvā daśasahasrāṇi gajānām anivartinām | nṛṇāṁ śatasahasre dve dve śate caiva bhārata ||
Sañjaya said: Having slain ten thousand elephants that would not turn back, and also two hundred thousand and two hundred foot-soldiers, O Bhārata, Bhīmasena caused a river of blood to flow there. The passage underscores the terrible scale of war—valor and duty on the battlefield are narrated alongside the moral horror of mass destruction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the epic’s double vision: battlefield prowess and steadfastness are praised as kṣatriya-duty, yet the narration also forces the listener to confront the catastrophic human cost—war may be ‘duty-bound,’ but it remains morally and emotionally devastating.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the immense slaughter on the battlefield: vast numbers of unretreating elephants and foot-soldiers are killed, and the fighting is so intense that it is described as making a ‘river of blood’ flow—an image of overwhelming carnage.