Shloka 343
अध्याय २२ — अमर्याद-युद्धवर्णन
Unrestrained Battle Description and Śakuni’s Rear Assault
प्रभिन्नयोर्यथा सक्तं मत्तयोर्वरहस्तिनो: । भरतश्रेष्ठ) रणभूमिमें उन दोनोंका महान् युद्ध ऐसा जान पड़ता था, मानो मदकी धारा बहानेवाले दो उत्तम मतवाले हाथी आपसमें जूझ रहे हों
prabhinnayor yathā saktaṁ mattayor vara-hastinoḥ | bharataśreṣṭha raṇabhūmau tayor mahad yuddham evaṁ babhūva, yathā mada-dhārā-prasrāviṇau dvau uttamau mattau hastinau parasparaṁ yujyete ||
হে ভরতশ্রেষ্ঠ! রণভূমিতে তাদের সেই মহাযুদ্ধ এমন মনে হচ্ছিল, যেন কপোল থেকে মদধারা ঝরানো দুই শ্রেষ্ঠ মত্ত হাতি পরস্পরের সঙ্গে দৃঢ়ভাবে জড়িয়ে সংঘর্ষে লিপ্ত।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers an ethical-laden image of war: when combatants are seized by 'mada' (intoxicating fury/pride), they collide like musth elephants—powerful yet driven by impulse. It cautions that martial prowess without restraint can become blind momentum, intensifying destruction.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the intensity of a duel on the battlefield. He likens the two fighters’ close, forceful engagement to two prime elephants in musth grappling head-on, emphasizing the ferocity and stalemate-like pressure of their encounter.