Shloka 2

Devanagari script

शोणितोदां महीं कृत्वा मांसमज्जास्थिपड्किलाम्‌ | मनुष्यशीर्षपाषाणां हस्त्यश्वकृतरोधसम्‌

Transliteration

śoṇitodāṃ mahīṃ kṛtvā māṃsamajjāsthipaḍkilām | manuṣyaśīrṣapāṣāṇāṃ hasty-aśva-kṛta-rodhasam

Translation

Sañjaya said: “The battlefield was turned into a land flooded with blood, churned into mire of flesh, marrow, and bones—its channels and obstructions formed by heaps of human heads like stones, and by the bodies of elephants and horses.” The verse underscores the moral horror and dehumanizing cost of war, presenting the carnage as a stark consequence of adharma-driven conflict and unchecked wrath.

Word by Word

शोणित-उदाम्having blood as water; blood-watered

महीम्the earth

कृत्वाhaving made

मांस-मज्जा-अस्थि-पङ्किलाम्miry with flesh, marrow, and bones

मनुष्य-शीर्ष-पाषाणाम्of stones (like) human heads / of human-head stones

हस्ति-अश्व-कृत-रोधसम्whose obstruction/barrier is made by elephants and horses

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

earth/battlefield (mahī)

human heads (manuṣyaśīrṣa)

elephants (hasti)

horses (aśva)

blood (śoṇita)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the ethical gravity of war by depicting its outcome as a landscape of blood and bodily ruin. It functions as a moral warning: when anger, pride, and adharma dominate, even ‘victory’ is stained by immense suffering and the loss of human dignity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the state of the battlefield: it has become a flood of blood and a mire of flesh, marrow, and bones, with heaps of severed heads and the fallen bodies of elephants and horses forming barriers—an image of overwhelming slaughter in the Kurukṣetra war.