Shloka 393
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
चरतस्तस्य संग्रामे तस्मिंललोहितकर्दमे । मान्यवर! उस संग्राममें रक्तकी कीच मच गयी थी। उसमें विचरते हुए अर्जुनके रथके पहिये मानो भयसे शिथिल होते जा रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca |
caratas tasya saṅgrāme tasmiṃl lohitakardame |
… arjunasya rathacakrāṇi bhayād iva śithilībhavantīti ||
三阇耶说道：尊者啊！在那场交战中，大地已化作血泥。阿周那行走其间，他战车的车轮仿佛因惧而渐渐松弛，失却坚实的抓地。此景表明：战争在身与法两方面的混乱，足以使即便为正义之业所用的器具也似乎动摇，在滔天杀戮之中考验人的决心。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the brutality of war can shake even the strongest resolve: when the battlefield becomes a ‘mire of blood,’ one’s tools and confidence may seem to falter. It implicitly calls for steadiness in dharma—acting with clarity and courage despite भय (fear) and the surrounding moral chaos.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield as churned into blood-mud. Amid this carnage, as Arjuna moves through the fight, his chariot-wheels appear to loosen ‘as if from fear,’ intensifying the sense of peril and the strain of the ongoing combat.