यावन्तो भुवि सिच्यन्ते रुधिरै रणरेणवः । तावन्त्यब्दसहस्राणि भटानामास्पदं दिवि ॥ ५ ॥
yāvantō bhuvi sicyantē rudhirai raṇarēṇavaḥ | tāvantyabdasahasrāṇi bhaṭānāmāspadaṁ divi || 5 ||
Translation
"As many specks of the battlefield's dust as are sprinkled on the earth with blood, for so many thousands of years the warriors have their place in heaven."
Word by word
- yāvantō
- (yāvantaḥ) as many
- bhuvi
- on the earth
- sicyantē
- are sprinkled
- rudhirai
- (rudhiraiḥ) with blood
- raṇa
- of the battlefield
- rēṇavaḥ
- specks of dust
- tāvantya
- (tāvanti) for so many
- abda
- years
- sahasrāṇi
- thousands
- bhaṭānām
- the warriors'
- āspadaṁ
- place
- divi
- in heaven
Meaning
A saying about the reward of the brave, given here as the onlookers' belief: for each grain of dust wet with a hero's blood, a thousand years in heaven. Vasiṣṭha has already said in 3.31 to whom such sayings rightly apply: the fighter in dharma.