Shloka 373
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
अगम्यरूपा समरे विशीर्णैरिव पर्वतै: । समरांगणमें टूट-फ़ूटकर गिरे हुए पर्वतोंके समान धराशायी हुए हाथियों और घोड़ोंके कारण वहाँकी भूमिपर चलना-फिरना असम्भव हो गया था
sañjaya uvāca | agamyārūpā samare viśīrṇair iva parvataiḥ | samara-aṅgaṇe tūṭa-phūṭa-kara gire hue parvatoṃ ke samāna dharāśāyī hue hāthiyoṃ aura ghoṛoṃ ke kāraṇa vahāṃ kī bhūmi par calnā-phiranā asambhava ho gayā thā |
Sañjaya sprach: In jener Schlacht wurde das Feld unpassierbar, als läge es voll zerborstener Berge. Denn Elefanten und Pferde, zerschmettert und in Haufen gefallen wie Felsklippen, lagen zusammengebrochen über den Boden, sodass jede Bewegung dort unmöglich war—ein Bild der Kriegsverwüstung, in dem Stolz und Macht zu lebloser Blockade werden.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the devastating, dehumanizing aftermath of war: even mighty forces (elephants, horses) become inert obstacles. It implicitly warns that martial glory is transient and that violence yields widespread ruin, challenging any easy moral justification for slaughter.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has become impossible to traverse because heaps of fallen, broken elephants and horses lie scattered like shattered mountains, blocking movement across the ground.