Shloka 2

Devanagari script

शोणितोदां महीं कृत्वा मांसमज्जास्थिपड्किलाम्‌ | मनुष्यशीर्षपाषाणां हस्त्यश्वकृतरोधसम्‌

Transliteration

śoṇitodāṃ mahīṃ kṛtvā māṃsamajjāsthipaḍkilām | manuṣyaśīrṣapāṣāṇāṃ hasty-aśva-kṛta-rodhasam

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்—போர்க்களம் இரத்தம் நிரம்பி இரத்தநீரால் மூழ்கிய நிலமாக மாறியது; அது மாமிசம், மஜ்ஜை, எலும்புகளின் சேற்றால் கலங்கியது. மனிதத் தலைகள் கற்கள் போலக் குவிந்தன; யானை-குதிரை உடல்கள் அதன் ஓட்டத்தில் தடுப்புகளாகவும் அணைகளாகவும் அமைந்தன.

Word by Word

• शोणित-उदाम्: having blood as water; blood-watered
• शोणित-उदाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोणित + उद (उदक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• महीम्: the earth
• महीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कृत्वा: having made
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• मांस-मज्जा-अस्थि-पङ्किलाम्: miry with flesh, marrow, and bones
• मांस-मज्जा-अस्थि-पङ्किलाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मांस + मज्जा + अस्थि + पङ्किल
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• मनुष्य-शीर्ष-पाषाणाम्: of stones (like) human heads / of human-head stones
• Type: Noun
• Root: मनुष्य + शीर्ष + पाषाण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• हस्ति-अश्व-कृत-रोधसम्: whose obstruction/barrier is made by elephants and horses
• हस्ति-अश्व-कृत-रोधसम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हस्ति + अश्व + कृत + रोधस्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• earth/battlefield (mahī)
• human heads (manuṣyaśīrṣa)
• elephants (hasti)
• horses (aśva)
• blood (śoṇita)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the ethical gravity of war by depicting its outcome as a landscape of blood and bodily ruin. It functions as a moral warning: when anger, pride, and adharma dominate, even ‘victory’ is stained by immense suffering and the loss of human dignity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the state of the battlefield: it has become a flood of blood and a mire of flesh, marrow, and bones, with heaps of severed heads and the fallen bodies of elephants and horses forming barriers—an image of overwhelming slaughter in the Kurukṣetra war.