Shloka 33
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
तस्मिन् रौद्रे तथा युद्धे वर्तमाने महा भये । प्रावर्तत नदी घोरा शोणितान्त्रतरद्धिणी,उस महाभयंकर घोर युद्धमें रक्त, आँत और तरंगोंसे युक्त एक भयानक नदी बह चली
tasmin raudre tathā yuddhe vartamāne mahābhaye | prāvartata nadī ghorā śoṇitāntrataraddhiṇī ||
Sañjaya disse: “Enquanto aquela batalha feroz prosseguia em terrível pavor, começou a correr um rio horrendo—sua corrente era de sangue, seu leito trazia entranhas, e suas ondas revolviam-se em gore.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic ethical cost of war: when violence becomes unchecked, it transforms the world into a landscape of terror and dehumanization, symbolized by a ‘river’ made of blood and entrails.
Sañjaya describes the battle at its most dreadful intensity, using a stark, visionary metaphor: a ghastly river begins to flow on the battlefield, composed of blood and entrails, conveying the scale of slaughter.