Mahabharata 7.32.23 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 32, Shloka 23
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
सारोहश्चापतद् वाजी गजेनाभ्याहतो भूशम् | निर्मर्यादं महद् युद्धमवर्तत सुदारुणम्
sārohaś cāpatad vājī gajenābhyāhato bhūśam | nirmaryādaṁ mahad yuddham avartata sudāruṇam ||
Sañjaya sprach: Ein Pferd stürzte, samt seinem Reiter, von einem Elefanten schwer getroffen zu Boden. So begann dort eine große und überaus schreckliche Schlacht zu wüten—jenseits aller Grenzen der Selbstzucht—da die üblichen Schranken gerechten Kriegshandelns nicht mehr beachtet wurden.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare can degenerate into nirmaryāda—unrestrained violence—where the customary boundaries meant to preserve dharma in combat collapse. It implicitly warns that when restraint is lost, suffering multiplies and ethical order is endangered.
Sañjaya describes battlefield scenes: an elephant’s forceful blow brings down a horse along with its rider, and the fighting intensifies into a vast, terrifying conflict characterized by a breakdown of restraint and rules.
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