Shloka 41
संछिन्नभुजनागेन्द्रां बहुरत्नापहारिणीम् । ऊरुग्राहां मज्जपड्कां शीर्षोपलसमावृताम्
sañchinnabhujanāgendrāṁ bahuratnāpahāriṇīm | ūrugrāhāṁ majjapaṅkāṁ śīrṣopalasaṁāvṛtām ||
ଛିନ୍ନ ଭୁଜାମାନେ ମହାସର୍ପ ପରି ଲାଗୁଥିଲେ; ସେ ନଦୀ ଅନେକ ‘ରତ୍ନ’—ଅଳଙ୍କାର ଓ ଶସ୍ତ୍ର—ବହାଇ ନେଉଥିଲା। ଜଂଘା ଗ୍ରାହ ପରି; ମଜ୍ଜା କାଦୁଆ ପରି; ଏବଂ ଛିନ୍ନ ମସ୍ତକ ପଥର ଖଣ୍ଡ ପରି ସବୁଦିଗରେ ଛାଇଥିଲା।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the Vaitaraṇī metaphor to frame war’s moral test: inner steadiness and righteousness make even terrifying passages ‘crossable,’ while cowardice and lack of self-mastery make the same ordeal overwhelming. It highlights how character (dharma, courage, discipline) shapes one’s experience of crisis.
Sañjaya vividly depicts the battlefield as a gruesome ‘river’ of blood and body-parts—arms like serpents, thighs like crocodiles, marrow as mud, heads as stones—conveying the scale of slaughter and the psychological terror it produces, especially for the fearful.