संजय उवाच
तद् उदीर्णगजाश्वौघं बलं तव जनाधिप ॥
पाण्डुसेनाम् अभिद्रुत्य योधयाम् आस सर्वतः ॥
पाञ्चालाः कुरवश् चैव योधयन्तः परस्परम् ॥
यमराष्ट्राय महते परलोकाय दीक्षिताः ॥
शूराः शूरैः समागम्य शरतोमरशक्तिभिः ॥
विव्यधुः समरे तूर्णं निन्युश् चैव यमक्षयम् ॥
रथिनां रथिभिः सार्धं रुधिरस्रावि दारुणम् ॥
प्रावर्तत महद् युद्धं निघ्नताम् इतरेतरम् ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
tad udīrṇagajāśvaughaṃ balaṃ tava janādhipa ||
pāṇḍusenām abhidrutya yodhayām āsa sarvataḥ ||
pāñcālāḥ kuravaś caiva yodhayantaḥ parasparam ||
yamarāṣṭrāya mahate paralokāya dīkṣitāḥ ||
śūrāḥ śūraiḥ samāgamya śaratomaraśaktibhiḥ ||
vivyadhuḥ samare tūrṇaṃ ninyuś caiva yamakṣayam ||
rathināṃ rathibhiḥ sārdhaṃ rudhirasrāvi dāruṇam ||
prāvartata mahad yuddhaṃ nighnatām itaretaram ||
That army of yours, with the surging flood of elephants and horses, O lord of men, rushing upon the army of Pandu, drew it into battle from every side. The Panchalas and Kurus, fighting one another, as if consecrated for the great kingdom of Yama, the other world. Heroes meeting with heroes, with arrows, tomaras, shaktis, swiftly struck one another in battle and sent one another to the abode of Yama. Warriors against warriors, a blood-flowing, terrible, great battle broke out, striking one another.
85ead96cc391 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:31:38 PM UTC
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The warriors are likened to those "consecrated to the other world": they go into battle as into a sacrificial rite whose end is death. It is telling that both hosts are equally doomed - the enmity swallows all without distinction. The verse teaches that war is an initiation into death; and one who enters it as into a sacrifice often becomes himself the offering - for in this rite the victim and the priest are one.