संजय उवाच
ततो युधिष्ठिरश् चैव भीमसेनश् च पाण्डवः ॥
द्रोणपुत्रं महाराज समन्तात् पर्यवारयन् ॥
ततो दुर्योधनो राजा भारद्वाजेन संवृतः ॥
अभ्ययात् पाण्डवान् संख्ये ततो युद्धम् अवर्तत ॥
घोररूपं महाराज भीरूणां भयवर्धनम् ॥
अम्बष्ठान् मालवान् वङ्गाञ् शिबींस् त्रैगर्तकान् अपि ॥
प्राहिणोन् मृत्युलोकाय गणान् क्रुद्धो युधिष्ठिरः ॥
अभीषाहाञ् शूरसेनान् क्षत्रियान् युद्धदुर्मदान् ॥
निकृत्य पृथिवीं चक्रे भीमः शोणितकर्दमाम् ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
tato yudhiṣṭhiraś caiva bhīmasenaś ca pāṇḍavaḥ ||
droṇaputraṃ mahārāja samantāt paryavārayan ||
tato duryodhano rājā bhāradvājena saṃvṛtaḥ ||
abhyayāt pāṇḍavān saṃkhye tato yuddham avartata ||
ghorarūpaṃ mahārāja bhīrūṇāṃ bhayavardhanam ||
ambaṣṭhān mālavān vaṅgāñ śibīṃs traigartakān api ||
prāhiṇon mṛtyulokāya gaṇān kruddho yudhiṣṭhiraḥ ||
abhīṣāhāñ śūrasenān kṣatriyān yuddhadurmadān ||
nikṛtya pṛthivīṃ cakre bhīmaḥ śoṇitakardamām ||
Then Yudhishthira and Bhimasena, son of Pandu, surrounded Drona's son on all sides, O great king. Then King Duryodhana, shielded by Drona, advanced upon the Pandavas in the fray, and a battle arose, terrible to behold, O great king, multiplying terror among the fainthearted. The Ambashthas, Malavas, Vangas, Shibis, and Traigartakas -- these hosts -- the enraged Yudhishthira sent to the world of death; and the Abhishahas, Shurasenas, and Kshatriyas, maddened in battle, Bhima hewed down and turned the earth into a bloody mire.
3a682aac1ed9 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:40:45 PM UTC
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The night slaughter resumes, and the verse tallies whole peoples cast "into the world of death." It is telling that the battle is named as multiplying fear only among the timid: for the steadfast it is a field of duty, for the fainthearted an abyss of horror; the same ground is doubled by the heart of the one who beholds it. The verse teaches that war is not an abstract calamity but the destruction of living peoples, and the earth turned to bloody mire is the visible price of a king's quarrel.