Shloka 44
योधग्राहवतीं संख्ये वहन्तीं यमसादनम् । क्षणेन पुरुषव्याप्र: प्रावर्तयत निम्नगाम्
sañjaya uvāca |
yodhagrāhavatīṃ saṅkhye vahantīṃ yamasādanam |
kṣaṇena puruṣavyāghraḥ prāvartayata nimnagām ||
Wika ni Sañjaya: Sa labang iyon, may isang ilog—siksik ng mga “buwayang” mandirigma—na nakita nilang umaagos patungo sa tahanan ni Yama. Sa isang kisap, si Bhīmasena, ang tigre sa mga tao, ang nagpasiklab sa agos na pababa: isang nakapangingilabot na ilog ng dugo na tulad ng Vaitaraṇī—madaling tawirin ng matitibay ang loob, ngunit mahirap lusungin ng mga natatakot—at lalo pang nagpalaki sa sindak ng mahihina ang loob sa gitna ng pagwasak ng digmaan.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the image of a blood-river flowing toward Yama’s realm to underscore the moral gravity of war: violence rapidly becomes a current carrying beings toward death, and courage or fear shapes one’s ability to face that reality. It implicitly warns that adharma and cowardice make the passage through suffering ‘difficult,’ while steadiness and resolve make it ‘fordable’—a moral contrast highlighted by the Vaitaraṇī comparison in the traditional gloss.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield as if a river is flowing to the abode of Death, filled with ‘crocodiles’ in the form of warriors. In context, Bhīma’s fierce onslaught is said to have, in a moment, produced a terrifying ‘river of blood,’ likened to the Vaitaraṇī, amplifying panic among the timid.