उष्णीषफेनवसनां निष्कीर्णान्त्रसरीसृपाम् ॥
वीरापहारिणीम् उग्रां मांसशोणितकर्दमाम् ॥
हस्तिग्राहां केतुवृक्षां क्षत्रियाणां निमज्जनीम् ॥
क्रूरां शरीरसंघाटां सादिनक्रां दुरत्ययाम् ॥
द्रोणः प्रावर्तयत् तत्र नदीम् अन्तकगामिनीम् ॥
क्रव्यादगणसंघुष्टां श्वशृगालगणायुताम् ॥
निषेवितां महारौद्रैः पिशिताशैः समन्ततः ॥
uṣṇīṣaphenavasanāṃ niṣkīrṇāntrasarīsṛpām ||
vīrāpahāriṇīm ugrāṃ māṃsaśoṇitakardamām ||
hastigrāhāṃ ketuvṛkṣāṃ kṣatriyāṇāṃ nimajjanīm ||
krūrāṃ śarīrasaṃghāṭāṃ sādinakrāṃ duratyayām ||
droṇaḥ prāvartayat tatra nadīm antakagāminīm ||
kravyādagaṇasaṃghuṣṭāṃ śvaśṛgālagaṇāyutām ||
niṣevitāṃ mahāraudraiḥ piśitāśaiḥ samantataḥ ||
[That river] where turbans are foam, and fallen entrails are serpents, sweeping away warriors, fierce, with mud of flesh and blood; where elephants are crocodiles-predators, and standards are trees—an abyss where kshatriyas drown, savage, where heaps of bodies are logjams, and riders are crocodiles, insurmountable; echoing with flocks of vultures, swarming with packs of dogs and jackals, thronged on all sides by most ferocious flesh-eating creatures.
0bf1f91f7bbf · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:00:04 PM UTC
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The image of the river reaches the depth of horror: vultures flock to it, dogs and jackals gather—behind the glory of battle stands the feast of scavengers, the true 'victors' of every war. Here appears what songs of heroism pass over in silence: bodies for which kings fought fall to the beasts. It is telling that the tradition does not turn away even from this—it follows war through to the end, to the jackals on the bank. The verse teaches that every slaughter ends not in triumph but in decay and the feast of predators; that flesh proud of its armor and rank becomes food for dogs; and that one who remembers this outcome will not be seduced by the glitter of war nor hasten to multiply bodies in its river for the sake of glory that turns into a vulture's prey.