Shloka 15
Adhyāya 17 — गजयुद्ध-वृत्तान्तः, सहदेव-दुःशासन-संघर्षः, नकुल-कर्ण-समागमः
Elephant-battle account; Sahadeva–Duhshasana clash; Nakula–Karna encounter
स वेदनार्तोम्बुदनिस्वनो नदं- श्वरन भ्रमन् प्रस्खलितान्तरोड<द्रवत् । पपात रुग्ण: सनियन्तृकस्तथा यथा गिरिव॑जविदारितस्तथा
sa vedanārto ’mbudanisvano nadaṁśvaraṁ bhraman praskhalitāntaro dravat | papāta rugṇaḥ sa-niyantrakas tathā yathā girivajra-vidāritaḥ tathā ||
Sañjaya sprach: Von Schmerz gequält, brüllte der Elefant mit dem Grollen einer Gewitterwolke. In Verwirrung irrte er umher, rannte davon, kreiste, und stolperte immer wieder. Dann, schwer verwundet, brach er mitsamt seinem Treiber zu Boden, wie ein vom Blitz gespaltenes Gebirge, das in sich zusammenstürzt. Die Szene betont den erbarmungslosen Schwung der Schlacht, in dem selbst mächtige Tiere und ihre menschlichen Lenker in Leid und Verderben hineingerissen werden.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh ethical reality of war: power and grandeur (a war-elephant likened to a mountain) are undone by pain and injury, and noncombatant-like attendants (the mahout) also suffer. It implicitly points to the fragility of embodied life and the collateral suffering produced by violence.
Sañjaya describes a wounded war-elephant: it bellows like thunder, runs about in confusion, repeatedly stumbles, and finally collapses on the ground together with its driver, compared to a mountain shattered by a thunderbolt.