Shloka 44

कर्णपर्व — पञ्चदशोऽध्यायः | Karṇa Parva, Chapter 15: Pāṇḍya’s Advance and Aśvatthāmā’s Counterstroke

Devanagari script

पश्चात्तु शैलवत्‌ पेतुस्ते गजा: सह सादिभि: । वज्िवज्रप्रमथिता यथैवाद्रिचयास्तथा

Transliteration

paścāt tu śailavat petus te gajāḥ saha sādibhiḥ | vajravajrapramathitā yathaivādricayās tathā ||

Translation

قال سنجيا: وبعد أن قُطِعت خراطيمها، هوَت تلك الفيلة مع ركّابها كأنها جبال. سقطت كما تسقط أكوام التلال إذا شقّها وحطّمها فَجْرُ إندرا، صاعقته الـ«فَجْرَة/فَجْرَا» (الفَجْرَة: الفَجْرَة هنا هي الفَجْرَة/الفَجْرَة: الفَجْرَة بمعنى الفَجْرَة—الڤَجْرَا).

Word by Word

• पश्चात्: afterwards
• पश्चात्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पश्चात्

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• शैलवत्: like a mountain
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: शैलवत्

• पेतुः: fell
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत्
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3, Plural, Parasmaipada

• ते: those
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गजाः: elephants
• गजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सह: together with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सह

• सादिभिः: with riders/horsemen (mounted men)
• सादिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सादि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• वज्रिवज्रप्रमथिताः: crushed/smitten by the thunderbolt of the thunderbolt-bearer (Indra)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वज्रि-वज्र-प्रमथित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यथा: as/just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• अद्रिचयाः: heaps/masses of mountains
• अद्रिचयाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अद्रिचय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तथा: so/thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• elephants (gajāḥ)
• elephant riders (sādibhiḥ)
• Indra
• vajra (thunderbolt)
• mountains/hills (śaila/adri)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the catastrophic, indiscriminate destructiveness of war: even the strongest beings (war-elephants) and their human riders are brought down suddenly. The Indra-vajra simile heightens the sense that battlefield force can resemble a cosmic calamity, inviting reflection on the ethical cost of violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a moment in the battle where elephants, after suffering grievous injury (trunks severed), collapse with their riders. Their fall is compared to mountain-heaps shattered by Indra’s thunderbolt, emphasizing the scale and terror of the carnage.