Shloka 5
निकृत्य पृथिवीं चक्रे भीम: शोणितकर्दमाम् । अभीषाह तथा शूरसेन देशके रणदुर्मद क्षत्रियोंको भी काट-काटकर भीमसेनने वहाँकी भूमिको खूनसे कीचड़मयी बना दिया ।। ४ ई ।। यौधेयानद्रिजान् राजन् मद्रकान्मालवानपि
nikṛtya pṛthivīṃ cakre bhīmaḥ śoṇita-kardamām | abhīṣāḥ tathā śūrasena-deśake raṇa-durmada-kṣatriyān api kāṭa-kāṭa-kara bhīmaseno vahāṃ bhūmiṃ khūna-se kīcaḍa-mayīṃ cakāra || yautheyān adrījān rājan madrakān mālavān api ||
Sañjaya said: Having struck down the warriors, Bhīma turned the earth into a mire of blood. In that same way, he also hewed down the battle-maddened Kṣatriyas of the Śūrasena country; and there, Bhīmasena made the ground muddy with gore. O King, he likewise cut down the Yautheyas, the hill-men, the Madrakas, and the Mālavas as well.
संयज उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral weight and destructive consequence of war: even when framed as Kṣatriya duty, unchecked battle-fury turns the very earth into a symbol of suffering, reminding the listener that victory is purchased through grievous loss.
Sañjaya reports to the king that Bhīma is cutting down multiple allied warrior-groups—those of Śūrasena as well as the Yautheyas, hill-men, Madrakas, and Mālavas—so intensely that the battlefield ground becomes a mire of blood.