Shloka 61
Arjuna’s Advance toward Bhīṣma; The Gāṇḍīva’s Signal and the Armies’ Convergence (भीष्माभिमुखगमनम् — गाण्डीवनिर्घोष-ध्वजवर्णनम्)
परिपेतु: सुसंरब्धाश्षतुर्वष्टा श्वतुर्दिशम् । महाबली राक्षसोंद्वारा प्रेरित अन्यान्य दिग्गज भी जिनके चार-चार दाँत थे, अत्यन्त कुपित हो चारों दिशाओंमें टूट पड़े |। ६० हू ।।
sañjaya uvāca | paripetuḥ susaṃrabdhāś caturdaṃṣṭrāś caturdiśam | mahābalī rākṣasair dvārā preritā anyāny diggajāḥ | bhagadattasya taṃ nāgaṃ viṣāṇair abhyapīḍayan | te sarve bhagadattasya hastinaṃ dantair pīḍayām āsuḥ | sa bāṇair bahuviddhaḥ san ebhir gajaiḥ pīḍitaḥ vedanābhibhūto mahānādaṃ cakāra | tasya śabda indrasya vajragarjitasamaḥ pratibhāti |
Sañjaya sprach: Von Zorn entflammt und in rasenden Taumel versetzt, stürmten die vierzähnigen Elefanten in alle vier Himmelsrichtungen, angetrieben von mächtigen Rākṣasas. Mit Stoßzähnen und Hörnern drängten sie auf Bhagadattas Elefanten ein und quälten ihn von allen Seiten. Das große Tier war bereits von vielen Pfeilen durchbohrt; unter dem Druck der anderen Elefanten, von Schmerz überwältigt, stieß es einen gewaltigen Schrei aus—sein Brüllen glich dem Donner von Indras Vajra.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights how rage and external incitement can turn strength into cruelty, producing widespread suffering. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical horizon, battlefield prowess is not celebrated in isolation; it is shown alongside its cost—pain, loss of control, and the dehumanizing momentum of war.
Sañjaya describes a surge of war-elephants—four-tusked and maddened—driven by rākṣasas, charging in all directions and attacking Bhagadatta’s elephant. Already wounded by arrows, Bhagadatta’s elephant is further tormented by tusks and horns and roars in agony, its cry likened to Indra’s thunder.