Shloka 24
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
दन्तिनश्न नरश्रेष्ठ हीना: परमसादिभि: । मृद्नन्तः स्वान्यनीकानि निपेतु: सर्वशब्दगा:
dantinaś ca naraśreṣṭha hīnāḥ paramasādibhiḥ | mṛdnantaḥ svāny anīkāni nipetuḥ sarvaśabdagāḥ ||
قال سنجيا: «يا خير الرجال، إن كثيرًا من الفيلة، وقد حُرمت أمهر سائسيها ودُفعت إلى الهياج، أخذت تدوس صفوفها هي نفسها. تفزع من كل صوت، فتندفع هنا وهناك ثم تسقط في اضطراب، ناشرة الذعر في أرجاء ساحة القتال.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, loss of skilled guidance and the spread of fear can turn strength into self-destruction: powerful forces (elephants) without proper control become a danger to their own side, illustrating the ethical cost and instability inherent in violent conflict.
Sañjaya describes battlefield disorder: elephants whose expert riders have been removed or slain panic at noises, charge unpredictably, trample their own troops, and collapse into confusion, worsening the rout within their own army.