Shloka 8
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
घोरमायोधन जज्ञे पशूनां वैशसं यथा । वहाँ मारे जाते और एक-दूसरेको कोसते हुए शूरवीरोंके आर्तनादसे वह युद्धस्थल वैसा ही भयंकर जान पड़ता था, मानो वहाँ पशुओंका वध किया जा रहा हो ।। रुधिरेण समास्तीर्णा भाति भारत मेदिनी
ghoram āyodhanaṁ jajñe paśūnāṁ vaiśasaṁ yathā | rudhireṇa samāstīrṇā bhāti bhārata medinī ||
Sañjaya said: A dreadful battle arose, resembling the butchery of animals. Covered everywhere with blood, the earth of the Bhāratas appeared grim and terrible—made more horrifying by the cries of warriors being slain and cursing one another, as if a slaughterhouse had come to life on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical horror of war: even when framed as kṣatriya-duty, battle can devolve into indiscriminate slaughter. By likening the field to animal butchery and stressing blood-soaked earth and anguished cries, it warns that violence dehumanizes and leaves a moral stain, urging reflection on dharma amid conflict.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the intensity of the fighting in the Karṇa Parva: the battlefield has become terrifying, filled with the cries of dying warriors, mutual curses, and the ground strewn with blood—so dreadful it resembles a place where animals are being slaughtered.