Shloka 14
द्रोण–धृष्टद्युम्नयुद्धवर्णनम्
Drona–Dhrishtadyumna Battle Description
कोटीशतसहस््राणि क्षत्रियाणां सहस्रश: । इन्द्रगोपकवर्णस्य बन्धुजीवनिभस्य च,ईजे क्रतुशतै: पुण्यै: समाप्तवरदक्षिणै: । सहस्रों और लाखों कोटि क्षत्रियोंके इन्द्रगोप (वीर-बहूटी) नामक कीट तथा बन्धुजीव (दुपहरिया)-पुष्पके समान रंगवाले रक्तकी धाराओंसे भृगुनन्दन परशुरामने कितने ही तालाब भर दिये और समस्त अठारह द्वीपोंको अपने वशमें करके उत्तम दक्षिणाओंसे युक्त सौ पवित्र यज्ञोंका अनुष्ठान किया
koṭiśata-sahasrāṇi kṣatriyāṇāṁ sahasraśaḥ | indragopaka-varṇasya bandhujīva-nibhasya ca | īje kratuśataiḥ puṇyaiḥ samāpta-vara-dakṣiṇaiḥ |
Narada said: “In countless multitudes—hundreds of crores and thousands upon thousands—kshatriyas were slain. With streams of blood the color of the indragopa insect and like the bandhujīva flower, Bhṛgu’s descendant Paraśurāma filled many ponds. Having brought the eighteen islands (the whole earth) under his control, he then performed a hundred sacred sacrifices, each duly completed with excellent gifts to the priests.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral tension between extreme violence and the pursuit of religious merit: even after vast bloodshed and conquest, the narrative frames Paraśurāma as performing properly completed sacrifices with generous gifts. It invites reflection on whether ritual merit can coexist with, compensate for, or ethically cleanse acts driven by wrath and vengeance, a recurring Mahābhārata concern about dharma’s complexity.
Nārada recounts Paraśurāma’s legendary campaign against the kṣatriyas, describing the bloodshed with vivid red imagery (indragopa insect, bandhujīva flower). After subduing the whole earth (symbolized as eighteen islands), Paraśurāma performs a hundred sacred sacrifices, each concluded with excellent priestly fees.