Shloka 18
अर्जुनस्य गुरुधर्मविलापः तथा शैनेयकर्णयोर्युद्धारम्भः | Arjuna’s Lament on Guru-Dharma and the Opening of the Sātyaki–Karṇa Duel
निहतानाहवे पश्य पदात्यश्चवरथद्विपान्
nihatān āhave paśya padātyāś ca vara-ratha-dvipān
Sañjaya sprach: „Sieh — erschlagen im Getümmel der Schlacht — die Fußsoldaten ebenso wie die besten Wagenkämpfer und die Elefanten.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the impartial destructiveness of war: death overtakes all—infantry, elite chariot-fighters, and even mighty elephants—inviting reflection on the ethical cost of conflict and the fragility of worldly power.
Sañjaya, reporting events from the battlefield, points out to the listener that many combatants—foot-soldiers, prominent chariot-warriors, and elephants—have been slain amid the fighting.