Shloka 256
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
उपाशाम्यद् रजो भौमं भीरून् कश्मलमाविशत् । मनुष्य, घोड़े और हाथीके रक्त एक-दूसरेसे मिल रहे थे। उस रक्तप्रवाहसे वहाँकी उड़ती हुई भयंकर धूल शान्त हो गयी। उस रक्तराशिको देखकर भीरु पुरुषोंपर मोह छा जाता था
upāśāmyad rajo bhaumaṁ bhīrūn kaśmalam āviśat | manuṣya-aśva-gaja-raktaṁ parasparaṁ samamiśrata | tasmin rakta-pravāheṇa tatra uḍḍīyamānā bhīṣaṇā dhūliḥ śāntābhavat | tāṁ rakta-rāśiṁ dṛṣṭvā bhīru-puruṣeṣu mohaḥ samajāyata ||
Sañjaya said: The earth-born dust began to subside, and a crippling bewilderment seized the timid. The blood of men, horses, and elephants flowed together and mingled; and by that stream of blood the dreadful dust that had been whirling there was stilled. Seeing that mass of blood, faint-hearted men were overcome by delusion—an image of war’s moral collapse, where fear and confusion eclipse discernment and duty.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme violence produces not only physical devastation but also moral-psychological collapse: the timid are seized by kaśmala (bewilderment), and moha (delusion) overwhelms discernment. It implicitly warns that fear and confusion can eclipse dharma when one confronts the horrific consequences of war.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield so saturated with blood from men, horses, and elephants that the very dust raised by combat is damped and settles. The sight of pooled and streaming blood terrifies the faint-hearted, who lose clarity and composure.