Shloka 38
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
अपोवाह रणे भीरून् कश्मलेनाभिसंवृतान् । यथा वैतरणी प्रेतान् प्रेतराजपुरं प्रति
apo vāha raṇe bhīrūn kaśmalenābhisaṃvṛtān | yathā vaitaraṇī pretān pretarājapuraṃ prati ||
サンジャヤは言った。「戦場においてそれは、恐れに囚われた者――絶望と迷妄に包まれた者――を押し流した。ちょうどヴァイタラニーの川が死者を亡者の王の都へ運ぶように。かくして血のごときその川は、臆する者を、気絶したかのように戦場から遠ざけていった。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the Vaitaraṇī simile to show that in a righteous war, inner weakness—kaśmala, a collapse of courage and clarity—can ‘carry’ a person away from duty as surely as death carries the departed. Ethical strength is portrayed as inseparable from steadfastness in one’s role.
Sañjaya describes a terrifying, blood-like current on the battlefield that causes frightened fighters, overwhelmed by panic and confusion, to be swept away from the combat zone—likened to the Vaitaraṇī transporting the dead toward Yama’s abode.