Shloka 343
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
घोरमायोधन जज्ञे प्रेतताजपुरोपमम् । जो उनमें प्रवेश करते
sañjaya uvāca | ghoram āyodhanaṃ jajñe pretarāja-puro'upamam |
サンジャヤは言った。「おぞましい戦場が現れ、それは死者の主の都に似ていた。あまりに恐ろしく、まるでヤマ（閻魔）の国そのもののようで、踏み入る者を呑み込み、クシャトリヤの心に恐怖を生じさせた。勇士よ、肉を食らう獣たちの轟く声によって、その戦地はヤマの都のごとく戦慄すべきものに見えた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the battlefield as Yama’s city to highlight the moral gravity of war: when combat becomes overwhelmingly lethal, it evokes the realm of death itself, stirring fear even in kṣatriyas and reminding the listener that violence carries a profound ethical and existential weight.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the fighting has become extremely horrific; the battlefield appears like the city of the Lord of the Dead, conveying the scale of slaughter and the terror pervading the scene.