Shloka 10

Śalya–Bhīma Gadāyuddham (मद्रराज-भीमसेन गदायुद्धम्)

Devanagari script

शोणितोदां रथावर्ता हस्त्यश्वकृतरो धसम्‌ । कवचोडुपसंयुक्तां मांसपड़कसमाकुलाम्‌,उस नदीमें जलकी जगह रक्तराशि भरी हुई थी, रथोंकी भँवरें उठ रही थीं, हाथी और घोड़ोंकी ऊँची-ऊँची लाशें उस नदीके ऊँचे किनारोंके समान प्रतीत होती थीं। उसमें कवच नावकी भाँति तैर रहे थे तथा वह मांसरूपी कीचड़से भरी हुई थी

Transliteration

śoṇitodāṁ rathāvartā hastyaśvakṛtarodhasam | kavacōḍupasaṁyuktāṁ māṁsapaṅkasamākulām ||

Translation

शोणितोदां रथावर्तां हस्त्यश्वकृतरोधसम्। कवचोडुपसंयुक्तां मांसपङ्कसमाकुलाम्॥

Word by Word

शोणित-उदाम्having blood as water / blood-watered

रथ-आवर्ताम्having chariot-whirlpools

हस्ति-अश्व-कृत-रोधसम्whose banks/obstructions are made by elephants and horses

कवच-उडुप-संयुक्ताम्connected with armor-boats / with armors as boats

मांस-पङ्क-समाकुलाम्filled with flesh-mud

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

chariots

elephants

horses

armor

river (metaphorical battlefield river of blood)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse offers a stark ethical mirror: even when war is framed within dharma, its tangible outcome is mass suffering and dehumanizing destruction. The poetic ‘river of blood’ imagery presses the listener to recognize the real cost of violence and the fragility of embodied life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra in the Droṇa Parva, portraying the combat zone as a river made of blood, churned by chariots into whirlpools, bounded by heaps of elephant and horse corpses, with armor floating like boats and flesh forming mire.