Shloka 31
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
शीर्षपाषाणसंछन्ना: केशशैवलशाद्धला: । अस्थिमीनसमाकीर्णा धनुःशरगदोडुपा:,योद्धाओंके कटे हुए मस्तक शिलाखण्डोंके समान उन नदियोंको आच्छादित किये रहते थे। उनके केश ही सेवार और घासके समान प्रतीत होते थे, हड्डियाँ ही उनमें मछलियोंके समान व्याप्त हो रही थीं, धनुष, बाण और गदाएँ नौकाके समान जान पड़ती थीं
śīrṣapāṣāṇasaṃchannāḥ keśaśaivalśādvalāḥ | asthimīnasamākīrṇā dhanuḥśaragadoḍupāḥ ||
Disse Sañjaya: “Aqueles rios estavam cobertos de cabeças decepadas como se fossem rochedos; os cabelos sobre elas pareciam algas e capim de margem. Ossos espalhavam-se por toda parte como peixes, e arcos, flechas e maças surgiam como barcos.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys the ethical shock of war by depicting nature inverted: heads become rocks, hair becomes algae, bones become fish, and weapons become boats. The teaching is not a celebration of violence but a stark reminder that adharma and unchecked wrath deform the world, turning the life-giving image of a river into a channel of death.
Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war, describes the battlefield’s horrific aftermath in vivid metaphors. He portrays ‘rivers’ on the field—likely streams of blood and flows of bodies—so crowded with severed heads, hair, bones, and weapons that they resemble a grotesque landscape of rocks, weeds, fish, and boats.