Shloka 133
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)
स्वानप्याददते स्वाश्व शूरा: परमदुर्जया: । परम दुर्जय शूर सैनिक विपक्षीको मार डालनेकी अभिलाषा लेकर अपने और परायेको भी जान नहीं पाते थे। बहुधा अपने ही पक्षके सैनिक अपने ही योद्धाओंको मारनेके लिये पकड़ लेते थे
svān apy ādadate svāśva-śūrāḥ paramadurjayāḥ |
Sañjaya said: Those exceedingly hard-to-defeat warriors, seized by the frenzy of battle, even laid hands on their own men and their own horses. In the blind desire to strike down the opposing host, discernment collapsed—so that, again and again, soldiers of the same side would even seize their own fighters as if to kill them.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked rage and the single-minded urge to destroy the enemy can erase discrimination (viveka), leading to ethically disastrous outcomes—harm to one’s own side and a collapse of proper conduct (dharma) in war.
Sañjaya describes the chaos of the battle: even formidable warriors, in the press of combat, mistakenly seize their own soldiers and horses, unable to distinguish friend from foe, and at times even turning violently upon their own.