Shloka 18
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Anxiety and Bhīṣma’s Theological Explanation of Pāṇḍava Invincibility
Book 6, Chapter 61
रथी च समरे राजन्नासाद्य गजयूथपम् | सगजं पातयामास गजी स रथिनां बरम्,राजन्! उस समरभूमिमें कोई रथी किसी गजयूथ-पतिसे भिड़ जाता और सवार तथा हाथी दोनोंको मार गिराता था। उसी प्रकार गजारोही भी रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ वीरका वध कर देता था
rathī ca samare rājann āsādya gajayūthapam | sagajaṃ pātayāmāsa gajī sa rathināṃ varam ||
Sañjaya said: “O King, in that battle a chariot-warrior would close with an elephant-troop leader and strike him down together with his elephant; and likewise an elephant-rider would bring down the foremost of chariot-fighters. Thus, on the field, each arm of the army met the other in direct contest, and the slaughter fell on both mount and rider alike.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim reciprocity of war: prowess meets prowess, and violence rebounds across ranks—mount and rider, warrior and vehicle—highlighting the ethical weight of battlefield action and the indiscriminate cost of martial glory.
Sañjaya describes close engagements on the battlefield where chariot-fighters charge elephant leaders and fell both elephant and rider, while elephant-mounted warriors likewise kill eminent chariot-warriors—depicting intense, two-sided clashes between major military divisions.