Shloka 71
अध्याय ६० — कर्णस्य पाञ्चाल-सोमक-निग्रहः
Karna’s Suppression of the Panchala–Somaka Forces
दुद्रुवु: शतश: संख्ये भीमसेनशराहता: । तदनन्तर भीमसेनके बाणोंसे आहत हो फूटे गण्डस्थल, विदीर्ण कुम्भस्थल और छित्न- भिन्न शुण्डदण्डवाले सैकड़ों हाथी युद्धस्थलमें भागने लगे ।। केचिद् वमन्तो रुधिरं भयार्ता: पर्वतोपमा:
dudruvuḥ śataśaḥ saṅkhye bhīmasena-śarāhatāḥ | tadanantaraṃ bhīmasenakena bāṇaiḥ āhataḥ sphuṭita-gaṇḍasthalaḥ vidīrṇa-kumbhasthalaḥ chinna-bhinna-śuṇḍa-daṇḍavālaḥ saikadoṃ hāthī yuddhasthale palāyanta || kecid vamanto rudhiraṃ bhayārtāḥ parvatopamāḥ ||
Sañjaya sprach: Von Bhīmasenas Pfeilen getroffen, flohen Hunderte von Elefanten in Panik über das Schlachtfeld. Ihre Schläfen waren aufgerissen, die Stirnwülste zerschlitzt, die Rüssel zerfetzt und abgehauen; manche, berggleich an Größe, spien vor Angst Blut, während sie davonstürmten.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh moral reality of war: even the strongest beings collapse under fear and injury. It implicitly warns that martial success is inseparable from widespread suffering, urging reflection on the cost of conflict and the responsibility borne by those who wage it.
Sañjaya describes Bhīmasena’s fierce assault: his arrows grievously wound masses of elephants, causing them to break formation and flee. Some, enormous as mountains, run in terror while vomiting blood, intensifying the scene’s chaos and brutality.