Shloka 20
वज्रदत्तेन सह अर्जुनयुद्धम्
Arjuna’s engagement with Vajradatta during the Aśvamedha circuit
स तैर्विद्धो महानागो विस्रवन् रुधिरं वभौ । गैरिकाक्तमिवाम्भोडडद्रिरबहुप्रस्रवणं तदा
sa tair viddho mahānāgo visravan rudhiraṃ vabhau | gairikāktaṃ ivāmbhoda-drir bahu-prasravaṇaṃ tadā ||
قال فَيْشَمْبَايَنَة: لما اخترقته تلك السهام، أخذ الفيل الجبار يفيض بتيارات من الدم. وفي تلك اللحظة بدا كجبلٍ حاملٍ للمطر، مخطَّطٍ بحمرة المغرة، تتفجّر منه ينابيع كثيرة—صورةٌ تُضاعف لوعة العنف وتُبرز الثمن القاسي لفعل الحرب.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the tangible suffering produced by warfare: even when battle is framed within kṣatriya-duty, its immediate reality is pain and bloodshed. The poet’s vivid simile invites ethical reflection on the cost of violence rather than glorifying it.
An elephant, struck by multiple arrows, bleeds profusely. The narrator compares the blood streaming from its wounds to a rain-cloud mountain with many springs, visually intensifying the scene’s brutality.