Mahabharata 9.11.303 — Shalya Parva, Adhyaya 11, Shloka 303
Śalya–Bhīma Gadā-saṃnipāta and Śalya’s Bāṇa-jāla against Yudhiṣṭhira
Book 9, Chapter 11
अवारयच्छरैस्ती4॥णैर्महाद्विपमिवाड्कुशै: । तब क्रोधमें भरे हुए राजा युधिष्ठिरने पैदलों और घुड़सवारोंके साथ आते हुए शल्यको अपने तीखे बाणोंसे उसी प्रकार रोक दिया
sañjaya uvāca | avārayac charais tīkṣṇair mahādvipam ivāṅkuśaiḥ |
সঞ্জয় বললেন—ক্রোধে উদ্দীপ্ত রাজা যুধিষ্ঠির পদাতিক ও অশ্বারোহীদের সঙ্গে অগ্রসরমান শল্যকে তীক্ষ্ণ শর দ্বারা এমনভাবে রোধ করলেন, যেমন মাহুত অঙ্কুশের আঘাতে বিশাল হাতিকে ধাবিত হতে বাধা দেয়।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in anger and violence, effective leadership requires restraint and disciplined action. The simile of the mahout and elephant highlights controlled power—checking a dangerous advance through skill rather than uncontrolled fury.
Śalya advances in battle supported by infantry and cavalry. Yudhiṣṭhira, enraged, halts his advance by showering sharp arrows, likened to a mahout stopping a huge elephant with a goad.
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