Shloka 44
कर्णपर्व — पञ्चदशोऽध्यायः | Karṇa Parva, Chapter 15: Pāṇḍya’s Advance and Aśvatthāmā’s Counterstroke
पश्चात्तु शैलवत् पेतुस्ते गजा: सह सादिभि: । वज्िवज्रप्रमथिता यथैवाद्रिचयास्तथा
paścāt tu śailavat petus te gajāḥ saha sādibhiḥ | vajravajrapramathitā yathaivādricayās tathā ||
সঞ্জয় বললেন—শুঁড় ছিন্ন হওয়ার পর সেই হাতিগুলি আরোহীদেরসহ পর্বতের মতো ধসে পড়ত; যেন বজ্রধারী ইন্দ্রের বজ্রে বিদীর্ণ হয়ে পাহাড়ের স্তূপ ভেঙে পড়েছে।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.