Shloka 11
भीष्मरक्षण-उद्योगः, शिखण्डि-विवर्जनं, सर्वतोभद्र-व्यूहः
Protection of Bhīṣma, Exemption of Śikhaṇḍin, and the Sarvatobhadra Array
स तयाभिहतो राजंस्तेन बाहुप्रमुक्तया । संजातरुधिरोत्पीड: पपात च ममार च
sa tayābhihato rājan tena bāhupramuktayā | sañjātarudhirotpīḍaḥ papāta ca mamāra ca ||
Sañjaya sprach: O König, vom mächtigen, aus dem Arm geschleuderten Geschoss getroffen, platzten dem Elefanten die Schläfen, und Blut schoss hervor. Sogleich brach er zu Boden und starb.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark reality of war: strength, status, and even formidable war-mounts cannot withstand the consequences of violent action. It implicitly warns that warfare rapidly reduces living beings to vulnerability and death, highlighting the grave ethical weight carried by combatants under kṣatriya-dharma.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that an elephant is struck by a weapon hurled from an opponent’s arm; its temples burst, blood gushes out, and it falls and dies immediately.