Shloka 10
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
बिभयाद् युवती श्यामा तद्वदासीद् वसुंधरा । मांसशोणितचित्रेव शातकुम्भमयीव च,अथवा जैसे कोई श्यामवर्णा युवती श्वेत रंगके वस्त्रोंको हल्दीके गाढ़े रंगमें रँगकर पहन ले, वैसी ही वह रणभूमि प्रतीत होती थी। मांस और रक्तसे चित्रित-सी जान पड़नेवाली वह भूमि सुवर्णमयी-सी प्रतीत होती थी
bibhyād yuvatī śyāmā tadvad āsīd vasuṃdharā | māṃsaśoṇitacitreva śātakumbhamayīva ca ||
Sañjaya said: The earth itself appeared as if afraid—like a dark-complexioned young woman; so did the battlefield look. Smeared and patterned with flesh and blood, that ground seemed, paradoxically, as though made of gold—an image that underscores the dreadful cost of war and the moral dissonance between martial glory and human suffering.
संजय उवाच