Shloka 12

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 50 — Arjuna’s foreboding and lament for Abhimanyu; Kṛṣṇa’s dharma-consolation

Devanagari script

भयावहा वैतरणीव दुस्तरा प्रवर्तिता योधवरैस्तदा नदी । उवाह मध्येन रणाजिरे भृशं भयावहा जीवमृतप्रवाहिनी,उस समय श्रेष्ठ योद्धाओंने रणभूमिमें रक्तकी नदी बहा दी, जो वैतरणीके समान दुष्कर एवं भयंकर प्रतीत होती थी। उसमें जलकी जगह रक्तकी ही धारा बहती थी। ढेर-के-ढेर शरीर उसमें बह रहे थे। उसमें तैरते हुए रथ नावके समान जान पड़ते थे। हाथियोंके शरीर वहाँ पर्वतकी चट्टानोंके समान व्याप्त हो रहे थे। मनुष्योंकी खोपड़ियाँ प्रस्तरखण्डोंके समान और मांस कीचड़के समान जान पड़ते थे। वहाँ टूटे-फूटे पड़े हुए नाना प्रकारके शस्त्रसमूह मालाओंके समान प्रतीत होते थे। वह अत्यन्त भयंकर नदी रणक्षेत्रके मध्यभागमें बहती और मृतकों तथा जीवितोंको भी बहा ले जाती थी

Transliteration

bhayāvahā vaitaraṇīva dustarā pravartitā yodhavarais tadā nadī | uvāha madhyena raṇājire bhṛśaṁ bhayāvahā jīvamṛtapravāhinī ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Then the foremost warriors set in motion a river on the battlefield—terrifying and hard to cross, like the Vaitaraṇī. It surged violently through the very middle of the combat-ground, a dreadful current that swept along both the living and the dead. The image frames the battle not as heroic sport but as a moral catastrophe: when martial prowess is severed from restraint, it becomes a force that carries away life indiscriminately.

Word by Word

भयावहाfear-bringing, terrible

वैतरणीthe Vaitaraṇī (river)

इवlike, as

दुस्तराhard to cross

प्रवर्तिताset in motion, caused to flow

योधवरैःby the best warriors

तदाthen, at that time

नदीriver

उवाहcarried, bore along

मध्येनthrough the middle

रणाजिरेin the battlefield

भृशम्exceedingly, greatly

भयावहाfearful, terror-causing

जीवमृतप्रवाहिनीa stream carrying the living and the dead

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Vaitaraṇī

raṇājira (battlefield)

nadī (river, metaphorical—river of blood)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical horror of war: when elite warriors unleash unchecked force, the battlefield becomes a ‘Vaitaraṇī’—a dreadful passage that sweeps away life without discrimination. It cautions that prowess (śaurya) without dharmic restraint turns into a destructive current that engulfs both guilty and innocent, living and dead.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting has become so intense that it is as if a terrifying river has arisen in the midst of the battlefield. Using the Vaitaraṇī comparison, he depicts a torrent that carries bodies and overwhelms all, conveying the scale of slaughter and the chaos of the combat.