Shloka 5
अध्याय २९: कर्णस्य शल्यं प्रति शापस्मरणं च युद्धनिश्चयः | Chapter 29: Karṇa recalls curses to Śalya and declares resolve for battle
परिघमुसलशक्तितोमरै- नखरभुशुण्डिगदाशतैहता: । द्विरदनरहया: सहस्रशो रुधिरनदीप्रवहास्तदाभवन्
sañjaya uvāca | parigha-muśala-śakti-tomarair nakhara-bhuśuṇḍi-gadā-śatair hatāḥ | dvirada-nara-hayāḥ sahasraśo rudhira-nadī-pravahās tadābhavan ||
サञ्जयは語った。――そのとき、鉄の棍棒、杵（ムーサラ）、槍（シャクティ）、投槍（トーマラ）、爪のごとき武器、ブーシュンディー、そしてガダー（メイス）による幾百の打撃を浴びて、象も人も馬も幾千幾万と倒れた。戦場はまるで血の河が幾筋も噴き出すかのようであった。この詩句は戦の道義的重みを示す。ダルマが崩れ、歯止めなき暴力へと堕するとき、勝利は巨大で無差別な苦痛を代価として購われるのである。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a stark ethical reminder: warfare, even when framed as kṣatriya-duty, unleashes vast suffering that can overwhelm any claim of glory. By depicting 'rivers of blood,' the text presses the listener to recognize the human (and animal) cost when conflict escalates beyond restraint and dharma is strained.
Sañjaya reports the intensity of the fighting: countless elephants, warriors, and horses are cut down by repeated strikes from multiple kinds of weapons, and the slaughter is so great that blood is imagined as flowing like rivers across the battlefield.