Shloka 29
प्रहस्तवधः
The Slaying of Prahasta
हतवीरौघवस्रांतुभग्नायुधमहाद्रुमाम् ।।।।शोणितौघमहातोयांयमसागरगामिनीम् ।यकृत् प्लीहमहापङ्कान्वििकीर्णान्त्रशैवलाम् ।।।।भिन्नकायशिरोमीनामङ्गावयवशाद्वलाम् ।गृध्रहंसगणाकीर्णांकङ्कसारससेविताम् ।।।।मेदःफेनसमाकीर्णामार्तस्न्तितस्वनाम् ।तांकापुरषुदुस्तारांयुद्धभूमिमयींनदीम् ।।।।नदीमिवघनापायेहंससारससेविताम् ।राक्षसाःकपिमुख्याश्चतेरुस्तांदुस्तरांनदीम् ।।।।यथापद्मरजोध्वस्तांनळिनींगजयूथपाः ।
hata-vīra-ogha-vasrāṃ tu bhagnāyudha-mahādrumām | śoṇita-ogha-mahā-toyāṃ yama-sāgara-gāminīm || yakṛt-plīha-mahā-paṅkāṃ vikīrṇāntra-śaivalām | bhinna-kāya-śiro-mīnāṃ aṅgāvayava-śādvalām || gṛdhra-haṃsa-gaṇākīrṇāṃ kaṅka-sārasa-sevitām | medaḥ-phena-samākīrṇām ārta-santati-svanām || tāṃ kāpuruṣa-dustārāṃ yuddha-bhūmi-mayīṃ nadīm | nadīm iva ghana-apāye haṃsa-sārasa-sevitām || rākṣasāḥ kapi-mukhyāś ca terus tāṃ dustarāṃ nadīm | yathā padma-rajo-dhvastāṃ naḷinīṃ gaja-yūthapāḥ ||
Medan perang menjadi seperti sungai: tebingnya timbunan wira yang gugur; senjata yang patah laksana pohon-pohon besar; airnya arus darah deras mengalir menuju samudera Yama, dewa maut. Hati dan limpa menjadi lumpur pekat; usus yang berserak seperti rumpai air; tubuh dan kepala yang terpenggal menjadi ikan; anggota-anggota badan menjadi rumput di tepiannya. Burung hering berkumpul bagaikan angsa, burung pemakan bangkai berlegar seperti bangau; lemak terapung seperti buih, dan rintihan yang terluka menjadi gemericik suaranya. Sungai medan perang itu sukar diseberangi oleh pengecut, seperti sungai di hujung musim hujan yang didatangi angsa dan bangau. Namun para rākṣasa dan para kera utama menyeberangi sungai yang sukar itu—seperti ketua kawanan gajah melintasi kolam teratai yang diselaputi debu sari teratai.
Heaps of slain leaders as banks, broken weapons like large trees, torrents of blood as vast stretch of water, liver and spleens as its mire, scattered entrails as duckweeds, severed trunks and heads as fish, fingers and parts of limbs as grass, crowded with swans in the form of vultures, frequented with cranes in the shape of buzzards, overspread with f at in the form of foam, groans of the wounded for its murmur, difficult to cross for cowards, frequented by swans and cranes, that battlefield of river flowed. The Rakshasas and Vanaras swam across the river even though it were difficult to cross as leaders of elephant herds would cross a lotus pond covered with pollen of lotuses.
FAQs
The passage insists on satya about war: even when undertaken for dharma, battle produces horrific suffering; righteous leadership must never forget this cost.
The narrator depicts the battlefield so filled with corpses and gore that it is imagined as a dreadful river, which both sides nevertheless cross and press through.
Dhairya (steadfast endurance) and utsāha (resolve): the foremost fighters continue despite a scene that would break the fearful.