तस्मिन् रौद्रे तथा युद्धे वर्तमाने महाभये ॥
प्रावर्तत नदी घोरा शोणितान्त्रतरङ्गिणी ॥
अस्थिसंचयसंघाटा केशशैवलशाद्वला ॥
रथह्रदा शरावर्ता हयमीना दुरासदा ॥
शीर्षोपलसमाकीर्णा हस्तिग्राहसमाकुला ॥
कवचोष्णीषफेनाढ्या धनुर्द्वीपासिकच्छपा ॥
पताकाध्वजवृक्षाढ्या मर्त्यकूलापहारिणी ॥
क्रव्यादसंघसंकीर्णा यमराष्ट्रविवर्धिनी ॥
तां नदीं क्षत्रियाः शूरा हयनागरथप्लवैः ॥
प्रतेरुर् बहवो राजन् भयं त्यक्त्वा महाहवे ॥
अपोवाह रणे भीरून् कश्मलेनाभिसंवृतान् ॥
यथा वैतरणी प्रेतान् प्रेतराजपुरं प्रति ॥
tasmin raudre tathā yuddhe vartamāne mahābhaye ||
prāvartata nadī ghorā śoṇitāntrataraṅgiṇī ||
asthisaṃcayasaṃghāṭā keśaśaivalaśādvalā ||
rathahradā śarāvartā hayamīnā durāsadā ||
śīrṣopalasamākīrṇā hastigrāhasamākulā ||
kavacoṣṇīṣaphenāḍhyā dhanurdvīpāsikacchapā ||
patākādhvajavṛkṣāḍhyā martyakūlāpahāriṇī ||
kravyādasaṃghasaṃkīrṇā yamarāṣṭravivardhinī ||
tāṃ nadīṃ kṣatriyāḥ śūrā hayanāgarathaplavaiḥ ||
praterur bahavo rājan bhayaṃ tyaktvā mahāhave ||
apovāha raṇe bhīrūn kaśmalenābhisaṃvṛtān ||
yathā vaitaraṇī pretān pretarājapuraṃ prati ||
In this terrible battle, while great terror reigned, a dreadful river flowed, its waves made of blood and entrails. It was heaped with masses of bones, its water-weeds and grass replaced by hair, its pools were chariots and its whirlpools arrows, hard to cross, its fish were horses. It was strewn with heads in place of stones, swarming with elephants like crocodiles, rich with the foam of armor and turbans, its islands were bows and its tortoises swords. It was rich with banners and flags like trees, it swept away the banks of mortal men, it swarmed with packs of flesh-eaters, and it swelled the realm of Yama. Many valiant kshatriyas, O king, casting off fear in the great battle, crossed that river on horses, elephants, and chariots as if on rafts. But the timid, overcome with stupor, it carried away in battle to the city of the king of the dead, as the Vaitarani carries away the departed.'
15003cc4d036 · published Jul 17, 2026, 9:47:12 PM UTC
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The image of the river of blood does not merely adorn the narrative — it makes visible the moral outcome of the war: the battlefield itself becomes the Vaitarani. The brave try to cross it; the timid are carried off by it; but both paths lead through the realm of death.