Mahabharata 7.21.42 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 42
द्रोणविक्रमदर्शनम् / The Display of Droṇa’s Onslaught and the Debate on Pāṇḍava Regrouping
मनुष्यशीर्षपाषाणां शक्तिमीनां गदोडुपाम् । उष्णीषफेनवसनां विकीर्णान्त्रसरीसृपाम्
sañjaya uvāca |
manuṣyaśīrṣapāṣāṇāṁ śaktimīnāṁ gadodupām |
uṣṇīṣaphenavasanāṁ vikīrṇāntrasarīsṛpām ||
Sañjaya disse: Naquele campo de batalha irrompeu um terrível rio de mortandade: cabeças humanas pareciam pedras no leito; lanças moviam-se como peixes; maças eram como barcos à superfície; turbantes e vestes brilhavam como espuma; e entranhas espalhadas contorciam-se como serpentes. A imagem força o horror ético da guerra: quando o valor é jungido ao massacre, o campo torna-se uma inundação que leva todos à morte, sem distinguir lados.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is not a doctrinal instruction but an ethical warning through imagery: war reduces human bodies and heroic instruments into grotesque ‘natural’ features of a death-river. It underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension—kṣatriya duty and prowess may be praised, yet the cost in suffering and dehumanization is starkly exposed.
Sañjaya reports the battlefield scene in Droṇa Parva using an extended metaphor: the combat zone appears like a terrifying river where heads are stones, spears are fish, maces are boats, turbans are foam, and entrails are serpents—conveying the overwhelming carnage and chaos of the fighting.
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