Shloka 18

Devanagari script

बश्रमु: कुण्जराश्षात्र शरैविद्धा निरड्कुशा: । अश्वाश्न पर्यधावन्त हतारोहा दिशो दश,जिनके सवार मारे गये थे, वे अंकुशरहित गजराज बाणविद्ध होकर वहाँ इधर-उधर चक्कर काट रहे थे। सवारोंके मारे जानेसे घोड़े भी शराघातसे पीड़ित हो चारों ओर दौड़ लगा रहे थे

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | kuñjarāḥ śaraiḥ viddhā nir-aṅkuśāḥ hatārohā diśo daśa paryadhāvanta | aśvā api śarāghāta-pīḍitāḥ hatārohāḥ sarvato dhāvanta |

Translation

সঞ্জয় বললেন—শরে বিদ্ধ হয়ে এবং অঙ্কুশের নিয়ন্ত্রণ হারিয়ে, আরোহী নিহত হওয়ায় সেই গজরাজেরা দশ দিকেই উন্মত্তভাবে ছুটে বেড়াচ্ছিল। আরোহী নিহত হওয়ায় ঘোড়ারাও শরাঘাতে কাতর হয়ে চারদিকে দৌড়াচ্ছিল।

Word by Word

कुञ्जराःelephants

शस्त्रैःwith weapons

विद्धाःpierced, wounded

निरङ्कुशाःwithout a goad; uncontrolled

अश्वाःhorses

चand

पर्यधावन्तran about, rushed around

हतारोहाःwhose riders were slain

दिशःdirections

दशten

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

elephants (kuñjara)

horses (aśva)

arrows (śara)

elephant-goad (aṅkuśa)

ten directions (diśo daśa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the collateral suffering and moral disorder produced by war: when riders (human guidance and responsibility) are slain, animals become uncontrollable, and violence spreads beyond intended targets, revealing the ethical cost of battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes battlefield chaos: arrow-wounded elephants, no longer controlled by the goad and with riders dead, stampede in all directions; similarly, riderless horses, hurt by arrow-strikes, run about everywhere.