Shloka 9
राजन्! उस समय रणभूमि महावैतरणी नदीके समान अत्यन्त दुर्गम, बहुत ऊँची-नीची और भयंकर हो गयी थी, उसकी ओर देखना भी अत्यन्त कठिन जान पड़ता था ।।
rājan! tadā raṇabhūmir mahāvaitaraṇīnadīsadṛśī atyanta-durgamā bahv-unnatāvanatā ca bhīṣaṇābhavat; tām avalokitum api atyanta-kaṣṭaṃ pratibhāti sma. īṣācakrākṣabhagnaiś ca aśvaiḥ sāthraiś ca yudhyatām, sasūtair hatasūtaiś ca rathais tīrṇābhavan mahī.
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “O Hari, noon ang larangan ng digmaan ay naging tulad ng dakilang ilog na Vaitaraṇī—napakahirap tawirin, baku-bako at nakapanghihilakbot; maging ang pagtanaw dito’y wari’y halos di makaya. Natabunan ang lupa ng mga karwahe—may mga nabasag ang timon, gumuho ang mga gulong at naputol ang mga ehe—sa gitna ng sagupaan ng mga mandirigma. May mga karwaheng buhay pa ang mga kabayo at ang sais, at may mga nakahandusay na patay na ang kabayo at ang nagmamaneho.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and existential cost of war: the battlefield is likened to the fearsome Vaitaraṇī, suggesting that violence turns the world into a near-uncrossable realm of suffering where life, order, and human agency (chariots, horses, charioteers) are shattered.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has become terrifying and uneven, strewn with wrecked chariots. He describes the broken parts—shafts, wheels, axles—and notes that some chariots still have living horses and drivers, while others lie with both slain.