Shloka 10
Śalya–Bhīma Gadāyuddham (मद्रराज-भीमसेन गदायुद्धम्)
शोणितोदां रथावर्ता हस्त्यश्वकृतरो धसम् । कवचोडुपसंयुक्तां मांसपड़कसमाकुलाम्,उस नदीमें जलकी जगह रक्तराशि भरी हुई थी, रथोंकी भँवरें उठ रही थीं, हाथी और घोड़ोंकी ऊँची-ऊँची लाशें उस नदीके ऊँचे किनारोंके समान प्रतीत होती थीं। उसमें कवच नावकी भाँति तैर रहे थे तथा वह मांसरूपी कीचड़से भरी हुई थी
śoṇitodāṁ rathāvartā hastyaśvakṛtarodhasam | kavacōḍupasaṁyuktāṁ māṁsapaṅkasamākulām ||
サञ्जयは語った。「その河は水ではなく、血の奔流で流れていた。戦車がかき乱すところに渦が立ち、象と馬の屍の山は高き岸のようにそびえた。鎧は舟のごとく漂い、肉の泥により濃く重かった。」この比喩は戦の道徳的恐怖を突きつける。勇と策は、命が残骸へと貶められる景観へと帰結し、ダルマの戦と称されようとも暴力の倫理的代価を聴く者に直視させるのである。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a stark ethical mirror: even when war is framed within dharma, its tangible outcome is mass suffering and dehumanizing destruction. The poetic ‘river of blood’ imagery presses the listener to recognize the real cost of violence and the fragility of embodied life.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the Droṇa Parva, portraying the combat zone as a river made of blood, churned by chariots into whirlpools, bounded by heaps of elephant and horse corpses, with armor floating like boats and flesh forming mire.