Shloka 8
शल्यस्य पाण्डवसेनापीडनम् — Śalya’s Assault on the Pāṇḍava Host
with Omens and Bhīma’s Counter
तेषु राजन् निवृत्तेषु व्यूढानीकेषु भागश: । प्रावर्तत महारौद्र: संग्राम: शोणितोदक:
teṣu rājan nivṛtteṣu vyūḍhānīkeṣu bhāgaśaḥ | prāvartata mahāraudraḥ saṅgrāmaḥ śoṇitodakaḥ ||
Wahai Raja, ketika mereka telah kembali dengan barisan-barisan yang tersusun menurut pembagian formasi, pecahlah pertempuran yang amat mengerikan antara kedua bala—di mana darah mengalir laksana air.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical catastrophe of war: once armies are methodically organized into formations, violence becomes systematic and escalates into indiscriminate slaughter, symbolized by blood flowing like water—an implicit warning about how order and strategy can magnify destruction when dharma collapses.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that after the troops regrouped and were arranged in separate battle-formations, the fighting resumed with extreme ferocity between the two sides, turning the battlefield into a scene of massive bloodshed.