Shloka 20
Adhyāya 61: Saṃmohana-astra and the Kuru Withdrawal (संमोहनास्त्रं तथा कुरुनिवृत्तिः)
इति मां सड़ता: सर्वे तर्कयिष्यन्ति शत्रव: । शोणितोदां रथावर्ता नागनक्रां दुरत्ययाम् | नदीं प्रस्कन्दयिष्यामि परलोकप्रवाहिनीम्
iti māṁ śaṅkitāḥ sarve tarkayiṣyanti śatravaḥ | śoṇitodāṁ rathāvartāṁ nāganakrāṁ duratyayām | nadīṁ praskandayīṣyāmi paralokapravāhinīm ||
ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「かくして、疑念に満ちた敵どもは皆、私について推し量るであろう――『アルジュナは矢を放つのに右手を用いるのか、左手を用いるのか』と。今日、私は彼岸へと流れゆく、渡りがたき河へ躍り込み、これをかき乱して進む。その河は水が血であり、渦は戦車であり、鰐は象である。」
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battle through a moral-psychological lens: a kṣatriya hero must act with fearless resolve, accepting that war leads toward death (paraloka) while maintaining clarity and courage. It also shows how reputation and skill can unsettle opponents—ethical strength here is steadfastness in one’s duty amid mortal stakes.
The narrator reports a boastful, martial declaration about Arjuna’s prowess: enemies will be so confounded that they will debate which hand he shoots with. The opposing army is imagined as a deadly ‘river’—blood for water, chariots for whirlpools, elephants for crocodiles—into which Arjuna vows to plunge and overcome.