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 ||
Di sungai itu, anak panah menjadi arusnya, busur-busur seakan anak-sungainya; dan lengan-lengan yang tertebas berserakan seperti ular air. Mengalir deras melintasi medan laga, ia menyeret Kurus dan Sūjaya—kedua pihak—tanpa membeda-bedakan.
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.
Ask anything about this verse
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.