Mahabharata 7.121.48 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 121, Shloka 48

जयद्रथवधः — The Slaying of Jayadratha

Sunset Vow and Curse-Condition

Devanagari script

रुधिरोक्षितसवरज़िस्तैस्तदायोधनं बभौ

Transliteration

rudhirokṣitasavarṇajistais tadā yodhanaṃ babhau

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า—สนามรบนั้นดูหม่นมืดและน่าสะพรึง เพราะชุ่มโชกด้วยโลหิต; สีแห่งการสังหารได้แปรเปลี่ยนโฉมหน้าของมันไปสิ้น.

Word by Word

• रुधिरोक्षित: sprinkled with blood
• रुधिरोक्षित: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुधिर + उक्षित (√उक्ष्)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• सवरजः: with dust (together with dust)
• सवरजः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: स + रजस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• तैः: by them / with those
• तैः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• योधनम्: battlefield / fighting
• योधनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: योधन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• बभौ: shone / appeared
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भा
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• battlefield (yodhana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the stark ethical reality of war: even when fought under claims of duty, its visible outcome is devastation. The blood-stained battlefield becomes a moral image of the cost of hatred, ambition, and prolonged conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the field of battle has become drenched with blood, so that it appears uniformly blood-colored—signaling the intensity of the fighting and the heavy casualties at this stage of the war.