Mahabharata 7.21.43 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 43
द्रोणविक्रमदर्शनम् / The Display of Droṇa’s Onslaught and the Debate on Pāṇḍava Regrouping
वीरापहारिणीमुग्रां मांसशोणितकर्दमाम् । हस्तिग्राहां केतुवृक्षां क्षत्रियाणां निमज्जनीम्
sañjaya uvāca |
vīrāpahāriṇīm ugrāṁ māṁsaśoṇitakardamām |
hastigrāhāṁ ketuvṛkṣāṁ kṣatriyāṇāṁ nimajjanīm ||
三阇耶说道：德罗那使那战场化作一条可怖之河——夺走英雄的河——以血肉搅成泥淖。河中大象如鳄，旌旗如树而立；那急流使刹帝利沉没其中。此象谴责战争去人性的惯性：勇武固然存在，却被暴力吞噬，拖拽两军同赴死亡；并警示当达摩被屠戮遮蔽时，武功之荣也会坍塌为道德的恐怖。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a stark metaphor—war as a river of flesh and blood—to highlight how violence, even when driven by warrior valor, becomes a force that indiscriminately ‘carries off’ lives. It implicitly critiques the moral cost of battle: when compassion and restraint fail, the battlefield turns into a current that drowns dharma along with warriors.
Sañjaya describes the battle under Droṇa’s command as so intense that it resembles a terrifying river. Elephants appear like crocodiles within it, banners like trees on its banks, and the kṣatriyas are portrayed as sinking in this deadly flow—an image conveying mass slaughter and the overwhelming momentum of combat.
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