Shloka 44
योधग्राहवतीं संख्ये वहन्तीं यमसादनम् । क्षणेन पुरुषव्याप्र: प्रावर्तयत निम्नगाम्
sañjaya uvāca |
yodhagrāhavatīṃ saṅkhye vahantīṃ yamasādanam |
kṣaṇena puruṣavyāghraḥ prāvartayata nimnagām ||
サञ्जयは語った。戦場には、戦士という「鰐」に満ちた一条の河が、ヤマの住処へと流れゆくのが見えた。瞬く間に、人中の虎ビーマセーナが、その下りゆく流れを呼び起こした――ヴァイタラニーにも比すべき恐るべき血の河である。堅固なる者には渡りやすく、恐れある者には渡り難く、戦の破滅のただ中で臆病者の恐怖をいよいよ募らせた。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the image of a blood-river flowing toward Yama’s realm to underscore the moral gravity of war: violence rapidly becomes a current carrying beings toward death, and courage or fear shapes one’s ability to face that reality. It implicitly warns that adharma and cowardice make the passage through suffering ‘difficult,’ while steadiness and resolve make it ‘fordable’—a moral contrast highlighted by the Vaitaraṇī comparison in the traditional gloss.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield as if a river is flowing to the abode of Death, filled with ‘crocodiles’ in the form of warriors. In context, Bhīma’s fierce onslaught is said to have, in a moment, produced a terrifying ‘river of blood,’ likened to the Vaitaraṇī, amplifying panic among the timid.