Shloka 82

Devanagari script

नराश्वनागदेहेभ्य: प्रसृता लोहितापगा । गजाश्वनरदेहान्‌ सा व्युवाह पतितान्‌ बहून्‌,हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंका विनाश करनेवाला वह संग्राम उसी रूपमें चलने लगा। मनुष्यों, घोड़ों और हाथियोंके शरीरोंसे खूनकी नदी बह चली, जो अपने भीतर पड़े हुए हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्योंकी बहुसंख्यक लाशोंको बहाये जा रही थी

Transliteration

narāśvanāgadehebhyaḥ prasṛtā lohitāpagā | gajāśvanaradehān sā vyuvāha patitān bahūn |

Translation

સંજય બોલ્યો—મનુષ્ય, ઘોડા અને હાથીના દેહોમાંથી લોહીની ધારા પ્રસરી. તે લાલ પ્રવાહમાં પડેલા ઘણા હાથી, ઘોડા અને મનુષ્યોના દેહો વહેતા ગયા।

Word by Word

नरfrom men

अश्वfrom horses

नागfrom elephants

देहेभ्यःfrom bodies

प्रसृताhaving flowed forth / streaming

लोहितred (with blood)

अपगाriver/stream

गजelephants

अश्वhorses

नरmen

देहान्bodies

साshe/that (river)

व्युवाहcarried away

पतितान्fallen

बहून्many

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

river of blood (lohita-āpagā)

men (narāḥ)

horses (aśvāḥ)

elephants (gajāḥ/nāgāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the catastrophic human and animal cost of war: even when framed as duty, violence produces overwhelming suffering, inviting reflection on the ethical burden and the impermanence of life and power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield so saturated with slaughter that blood seems to form a river, which sweeps away the numerous fallen bodies of men, horses, and elephants—conveying the battle’s relentless, horrific intensity.