Shloka 34

Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

शोणितोदा सुसम्पूर्णा दुस्तरा पारगैनरि: । हतनागमहानक्रा परलोकवहाशिवा

Transliteration

śoṇitodā susampūrṇā dustarā pāragair nṛbhiḥ | hatanāga-mahānakrā paralokavahā śivā ||

Translation

ອຳບາຣີສ ກ່າວວ່າ: «ແມ່ນ້ຳນັ້ນ ທີ່ນ້ຳເປັນເລືອດ ເຕັມລົ້ນຢ່າງຫນັກ ແລະຂ້າມຍາກ ແມ່ນແຕ່ຜູ້ຮູ້ທ່າຂ້າມກໍຍັງລຳບາກ. ມີຈະເຂ້ໃຫຍ່ໆ ແລະມີຊາກຊ້າງທີ່ຖືກຂ້າກະຈາຍຢູ່; ມັນພາສັດທັງຫຼາຍໄປສູ່ໂລກໜ້າ—ແຕ່ໃນໜ້າທີ່ອັນຫນ້າສະພຶງນັ້ນ ກັບຖືກເອີ້ນວ່າ ‘ມົງຄຸນ’».

Word by Word

शोणित-उदाhaving blood as water (blood-flowing)

सुसम्पूर्णाvery full/complete

दुस्तराhard to cross

पारगाleading to the far shore / enabling crossing

इनरिःO lady (vocative-like address used as nominative in verse)

हत-नाग-महा-नक्राhaving slain elephants and great crocodiles

परलोक-वहाcarrying (one) to the next world

अशिवाinauspicious, harmful

Speaker

अम्बरीष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Ambarīṣa

a blood-filled river (metaphorical/otherworldly river)

elephants (nāga)

crocodiles (nakra)

paraloka (the next world)

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 uses stark battlefield/otherworld imagery to underline the moral gravity of violence and death: actions can sweep beings toward the afterlife like an overflowing, perilous river. Calling it ‘śivā’ highlights a paradox—death can be ‘auspicious’ only in the sense that it delivers the inevitable fruit of karma and leads the soul onward, urging ethical restraint and dharmic conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ambarīṣa describes a terrifying river—filled with blood, crowded with crocodiles, and marked by slain elephants—portraying an almost infernal crossing associated with death and the passage to the next world. The description functions as a warning and a moral illustration within the reflective, didactic tone of Śānti Parva.