Shloka 125
Vāsudeva-Māhātmya: Duryodhana’s Inquiry and Bhīṣma’s Theological Account of Keśava
वेगेन सातीव पृथुप्रवाहा परेतनागाश्वशरीररोधा । नरेन्द्रमज्जोच्छितमांसपड्का प्रभूतरक्षोगणभूतसेविता
sañjaya uvāca |
vegena sātīva pṛthupravāhā paretanāgāśvaśarīrarodhā |
narendramajjochchhitamāṃsapaṅkā prabhūtarakṣogaṇabhūtasevitā ||
三阇耶说道：那条河以惊人的速度奔涌，水势宽阔而强劲。死去的象与马的尸身横陈其间，如同两岸堤障。诸王的髓与肉化作河中的淤泥，众多罗刹与鬼神（bhūta）簇拥其上，啜饮其流。此象揭露战争的道德恐怖：王者的骄矜与世间权势终同归于那可憎的泥淖，而战场则成了以暴力为食的幽暗之力的巢穴。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark metaphor to expose the ethical cost of war: even kings and great warriors are reduced to perishable matter, and violence creates conditions where destructive, ‘dark’ forces thrive. It warns against pride in power and highlights the impermanence of worldly status.
Sañjaya is narrating the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, portraying a terrifying ‘river’ formed by the carnage of war—swift, wide, clogged with dead elephants and horses, and muddied with the flesh and marrow of fallen kings—haunted by rākṣasas and bhūtas.