Shloka 8
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
घोरमायोधन जज्ञे पशूनां वैशसं यथा । वहाँ मारे जाते और एक-दूसरेको कोसते हुए शूरवीरोंके आर्तनादसे वह युद्धस्थल वैसा ही भयंकर जान पड़ता था, मानो वहाँ पशुओंका वध किया जा रहा हो ।।
ghoram āyodhanaṁ jajñe paśūnāṁ vaiśasaṁ yathā | rudhireṇa samāstīrṇā bhāti bhārata medinī ||
Sañjaya berkata: Pertempuran yang mengerikan pun tercetus, bagaikan penyembelihan binatang. Diselimuti darah di mana-mana, bumi kaum Bhārata tampak muram dan dahsyat—lebih menggerunkan lagi oleh jeritan para pahlawan yang dibunuh sambil saling melaknat, seolah-olah rumah sembelih hidup kembali di medan perang.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical horror of war: even when framed as kṣatriya-duty, battle can devolve into indiscriminate slaughter. By likening the field to animal butchery and stressing blood-soaked earth and anguished cries, it warns that violence dehumanizes and leaves a moral stain, urging reflection on dharma amid conflict.
Sañjaya narrates to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the intensity of the fighting in the Karṇa Parva: the battlefield has become terrifying, filled with the cries of dying warriors, mutual curses, and the ground strewn with blood—so dreadful it resembles a place where animals are being slaughtered.