Shloka 63
बक-गौतमाख्यानम् / The Baka–Gautama Account
On Gratitude and Friendship Ethics
समाकीर्णा महाबाहो शैलैरिव सकिंशुकै: । महाबाहो! खूनसे लथपथ होकर गिरी हुई दानवोंकी लाशोंसे ढकी हुई यह भूमि पलाशके फूलोंसे युक्त पर्वत-शिखरोंद्वारा आच्छादित-सी जान पड़ती थी ।।
samākīrṇā mahābāho śailair iva sakiṃśukaiḥ | mahābāho! khūnase lathapatha hokara girī huī dānavoṃkī lāśoṃse ḍhakī huī iyaṃ bhūmi palāśake phūloṃse yukta parvata-śikharoṃdvārā ācchāditā-sī jāṇa paṛtī thī || 62 ī || sa rudro dānavān hatvā kṛtvā dharmottaraṃ jagat ||
Bhishma berkata: “Wahai yang berlengan perkasa! Tanah yang berselerak di segala penjuru tampak seolah-olah diselubungi puncak-puncak gunung yang dihiasi bunga kiṃśuka (palāśa); namun hakikatnya ia diselimuti mayat-mayat Dānava yang rebah, bermandikan darah. Setelah membunuh Dānava, Rudra membuat dunia kembali condong kepada dharma, memulihkan tertib moral sesudah kehancuran.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when destruction is severe, the narrative frames divine force as ultimately aimed at re-establishing dharma—making the world 'dharmottara', i.e., guided by moral order rather than adharma.
Bhishma describes a battlefield-like scene where the earth is covered with the blood-soaked bodies of Dānavas, visually compared to mountains topped with red palāśa blossoms; then he states that Rudra, after killing the Dānavas, restored the world’s orientation toward dharma.