महाभया वैतरणीव दुस्तरा; प्रवर्तिता योधवरैस् तदा नदी ॥
उवाह मध्येन रणाजिरं भृशं; भयावहा जीवमृतप्रवाहिनी ॥
पिबन्ति चाश्नन्ति च यत्र दुर्दृशाः; पिशाचसंघा विविधाः सुभैरवाः ॥
सुनन्दिताः प्राणभृतां भयंकराः; समानभक्षाः श्वसृगालपक्षिणः ॥
mahābhayā vaitaraṇīva dustarā; pravartitā yodhavarais tadā nadī ||
uvāha madhyena raṇājiraṃ bhṛśaṃ; bhayāvahā jīvamṛtapravāhinī ||
pibanti cāśnanti ca yatra durdṛśāḥ; piśācasaṃghā vividhāḥ subhairavāḥ ||
sunanditāḥ prāṇabhṛtāṃ bhayaṃkarāḥ; samānabhakṣāḥ śvasṛgālapakṣiṇaḥ ||
Dreadful, like the impassable Vaitarani, the river set flowing by the foremost of warriors streamed then through the midst of the battlefield — powerfully, terror-bearing, carrying the living and the dead. Where dreadful, hosts of pishachas of every kind, most fell, thoroughly gratified, terror-sowing to all living creatures, drink and devour, sharing the same fare — dogs, jackals and birds.
f752a09e5128 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:30:04 PM UTC
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The river of blood is named Vaitarani — the river that divides the world of the living from the realm of Yama. It is telling that this river of the dead was "established" by "yodhavaraiḥ," "the foremost of warriors": valor placed in service of a lawless battle itself carved the channel of the underworld through the field. "Jīvamṛta-pravāhinī," "bearing the living and the dead," erases the line between those still breathing and those already fallen. Here the verse teaches that a war fallen away from dharma builds and protects nothing, but merely lays down on earth a tributary of the Vaitarani, where beasts and demons share the same meal.