आ गुल्फेभ्यो ऽवसीदन्त नराः शोणितकर्दमे ॥
दीप्यमानैः परिक्षिप्ता दावैर् इव महाद्रुमाः ॥
शोणितैः सिच्यमानानि वस्त्राणि कवचानि च ॥
छत्राणि च पताकाश् च सर्वं रक्तम् अदृश्यत ॥
हयौघाश् च रथौघाश् च नरौघाश् च निपातिताः ॥
संवृत्ताः पुनर् आवृत्ता बहुधा रथनेमिभिः ॥
स गजौघमहावेगः परासुनरशैवलः ॥
रथौघतुमुलावर्तः प्रबभौ सैन्यसागरः ॥
ā gulphebhyo 'vasīdanta narāḥ śoṇitakardame ||
dīpyamānaiḥ parikṣiptā dāvair iva mahādrumāḥ ||
śoṇitaiḥ sicyamānāni vastrāṇi kavacāni ca ||
chatrāṇi ca patākāś ca sarvaṃ raktam adṛśyata ||
hayaughāś ca rathaughāś ca naraughāś ca nipātitāḥ ||
saṃvṛttāḥ punar āvṛttā bahudhā rathanemibhiḥ ||
sa gajaughamahāvegaḥ parāsunaraśaivalaḥ ||
rathaughatumulāvartaḥ prababhau sainyasāgaraḥ ||
Men, sinking up to their ankles in the bloody mire, stood like mighty trees engulfed by blazing forest fires. Garments, armor, parasols, and banners, drenched in blood -- all appeared crimson. Streams of horses, streams of chariots, and streams of men, felled and heaped together, rolled about again and again beneath the rims of the chariot-wheels. That ocean of the host presented this sight: its mighty current was streams of elephants, the dead men in it were as duckweed, and its whirlpools were made of chariots.
9d42de262119 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The battlefield becomes an "ocean of the host," where dead bodies are mere duckweed and chariots are whirlpools: man, with all his weapons and valor, is turned into a faceless swirl of matter. In this image lies a stern sobering: what deemed itself a mighty army has become nameless slurry, indistinguishable within the general flow. It is telling that men mired in blood are likened to trees in a forest fire -- motionless, doomed, burning where they stand. The verse teaches that war dissolves the person into a faceless mass of death, where names and faces are forgotten; that proud might becomes duckweed in a bloody current; and that one who perceives this fate behind the "ocean of the host" will not wish to add to it a single drop beyond what implacable duty compels.