Shloka 38
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
अपोवाह रणे भीरून् कश्मलेनाभिसंवृतान् । यथा वैतरणी प्रेतान् प्रेतराजपुरं प्रति
apo vāha raṇe bhīrūn kaśmalenābhisaṃvṛtān | yathā vaitaraṇī pretān pretarājapuraṃ prati ||
三阇耶说道：“在战场上，它卷走那些畏惧之人——被绝望与迷乱所笼罩者——正如瓦伊塔拉尼河将亡者载向亡灵之王的城邑。于是，那血色之河把怯懦者驱离战阵，仿佛他们已昏厥一般。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the Vaitaraṇī simile to show that in a righteous war, inner weakness—kaśmala, a collapse of courage and clarity—can ‘carry’ a person away from duty as surely as death carries the departed. Ethical strength is portrayed as inseparable from steadfastness in one’s role.
Sañjaya describes a terrifying, blood-like current on the battlefield that causes frightened fighters, overwhelmed by panic and confusion, to be swept away from the combat zone—likened to the Vaitaraṇī transporting the dead toward Yama’s abode.