Shloka 29
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
संजज्ञे रणभूमौ तु परलोकवहा नदी । शोणितोदा रथावर्ता ध्वजवृक्षास्थिशर्करा
sañjajñe raṇabhūmau tu paralokavahā nadī | śoṇitodā rathāvartā dhvajavṛkṣāsthiśarkarā ||
Disse Sañjaya: Naquele campo de batalha ergueu-se um rio que levava os seres ao mundo além. Sua água era sangue; as carruagens formavam redemoinhos; os estandartes pareciam árvores nas margens; e os ossos jaziam como cascalho e pedras—uma visão funesta que retrata a guerra como uma corrente que arrasta os caídos para a morte e para o além.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark metaphor—war as a river of blood flowing to the afterlife—to underline the moral weight and irreversible consequences of violence: battle does not merely decide victory, it carries lives away, reminding listeners of impermanence and the grave cost that dharma must reckon with.
Sañjaya, narrating the Kurukṣetra war, depicts the battlefield as if a dreadful river has formed there: blood is its water, chariots its whirlpools, banners its trees, and bones its pebbles—an intensified poetic description of the carnage and the mass death occurring in the fighting.