Mahabharata · 7.68.49–50
॥
Devanāgarī
यथा स्थलं च निम्नं च न स्याद् वर्षति वासवे ॥
तथासीत् पृथिवी सर्वा शोणितेन परिप्लुता ॥
षट्सहस्रान् वरान् वीरान् पुनर् दशशतान् वरान् ॥
प्राहिणोन् मृत्युलोकाय क्षत्रियान् क्षत्रियर्षभः ॥
Transliteration (IAST)
yathā sthalaṃ ca nimnaṃ ca na syād varṣati vāsave ||
tathāsīt pṛthivī sarvā śoṇitena pariplutā ||
ṣaṭsahasrān varān vīrān punar daśaśatān varān ||
prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya kṣatriyān kṣatriyarṣabhaḥ ||
Word-by-word
SanskritIASTMeaning
यथा स्थलम् च निम्नम् चyathā sthalam ca nimnam caas [one cannot tell apart] high ground and low; as high ground and low
न स्यात् वर्षति वासवेna syāt varṣati vāsavethere would [not] be, [when] Vasava [Indra] pours down [rain]; when Indra pours down
तथा आसीत् पृथिवी सर्वाtathā āsīt pṛthivī sarvāso was the whole earth; so was the whole earth
शोणितेन परिप्लुताśoṇitena pariplutāflooded with blood; flooded with blood
षट्सहस्रान् वरान् वीरान्ṣaṭsahasrān varān vīrānsix thousand of the best heroes; six thousand of the finest warriors
पुनः दशशतान् वरान्punaḥ daśaśatān varānand again a thousand of the best; and again a thousand of the finest
प्राहिणोत् मृत्युलोकायprāhiṇot mṛtyulokāyahe sent to the world of death; he sent to the world of death
क्षत्रियान् क्षत्रियर्षभःkṣatriyān kṣatriyarṣabhaḥkshatriyas — the bull among kshatriyas; kshatriyas — the bull-kshatriya
Translation
As [one cannot tell apart] high ground and low when Vasava [Indra] pours down [rain], so was the whole earth flooded with blood. Six thousand of the best heroes, and again a thousand of the best kshatriyas, the bull among kshatriyas sent to the world of death.
Version
194ad26fa8a5 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
The image 'yathā sthalaṃ nimnaṃ ca na syāt,' 'high and low cannot be told apart [in a flood],' — blood levels the ground like Indra's downpour. Thus death erases distinctions — the noble and the common, the high and the low. It is telling that in blood, as in a flood, all boundaries vanish. The verse teaches the equality before death: as a downpour floods hill and hollow alike without distinction, so does destruction level all — the greatest and the least; and the blood that covered the earth without regard for place is an image of this: before Kala-Time there is neither high nor low.