Shloka 50
प्रावर्तयत संग्रामे शोणितोदां महानदीम् । मध्येन कुरुसैन्यानां पाण्डवानां च भारत
sañjaya uvāca |
prāvartayat saṅgrāme śoṇitodāṃ mahānadīm |
madhyena kuru-sainyānāṃ pāṇḍavānāṃ ca bhārata ||
サンジャヤは言った。「戦いのただ中で、アルジュナは水が血である大河を奔らせ、クル族の軍とパーンダヴァ族の軍のあいだを流れさせた。おお、バーラタよ。」この比喩は戦の恐るべき道義的代償を示す。たとえ正義のための戦であっても、戦場は苦しみで濡れ、英雄の武勇は自ら生む悲劇と切り離せなくなる。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark metaphor—battle as a river of blood—to highlight the grave ethical weight of warfare. Even when undertaken as kṣatriya duty, violence produces immense suffering, demanding sobriety, responsibility, and discernment about dharma.
Sañjaya describes the intensity of the fighting: amid the Kuru and Pāṇḍava forces, the warrior’s arrow-storm drives opponents back and the slaughter is so great that it is pictured as a vast river of blood flowing between the two armies.