Shloka 3
अश्वा नाश्वैरयुध्यन्त गजा न गजयोधिभि: । उन्मत्तवन्महाराज युध्यन्ते तत्र भारत
aśvā nāśvair ayudhyanta gajā na gajayodhibhiḥ | unmattavan mahārāja yudhyante tatra bhārata ||
Sañjaya sprach: „O großer König, die Reiter kämpften nicht nur gegen Reiter, noch die Elefanten nur gegen Elefantenkrieger. Dort, o Bhārata, stritten die Männer wie von Raserei ergriffen—ohne Rücksicht auf passende Gegner oder Ordnung—und stürzten sich auf jeden, dem sie begegneten.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war can dissolve discipline and discernment: fighters abandon proper order and proportional engagement, becoming ‘unmattavat’—as if mad. Ethically, it points to the dehumanizing momentum of battle, where right measure and restraint are easily lost.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has become confused and indiscriminate: cavalry do not limit themselves to cavalry, and elephant units do not fight only their counterparts; instead, combatants clash with anyone they encounter, as though frenzied.