Shloka 33

Devanagari script

प्रेषिताश्न महामात्रैवरिणा: परवारणै:। अभ्यघ्नन्त विषाणाग्रैरवारिणानेव संयुगे,महावतोंके द्वारा आगे बढ़ाने हुए हाथी विपक्षी हाथियोंसे टक्कर लेकर युद्धस्थलमें अपने दाँतोंके अग्रभागसे हाथियोंपर ही चोट करते थे

Transliteration

preṣitāś ca mahāmātrair ariṇāḥ paravāraṇaiḥ | abhyaghnanta viṣāṇāgrair avāriṇān eva saṁyuge ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Von ihren großen Befehlshabern vorangetrieben, stießen die feindlichen Elefanten frontal auf die gegnerischen; mitten im Kampf trafen sie sie mit den scharfen Spitzen ihrer Stoßzähne.

Word by Word

प्रेषिताःurged/impelled (set in motion)

महामात्रैःby the elephant-drivers/mahouts

वरिणाःelephants (war-elephants)

परवारणैःwith/against enemy elephants

अभ्यघ्नन्they struck/smote

विषाणाग्रैःwith the tips of (their) tusks

अवारिणाirresistibly/unchecked (as by an unresisted force)

इवas/like

संयुगेin battle

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

enemy elephants

opposing elephants

tusks

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how warfare amplifies violence through hierarchy: commanders direct, and powerful creatures become instruments of harm. Ethically, it highlights the tragic reduction of life to weaponry and the momentum of conflict once unleashed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where enemy elephants, urged on by their commanders, collide with opposing elephants and gore them with their tusk-tips amid the fighting.