Mahabharata — Virata Parva, Shloka 24
Adhyāya 55: Pārtha–Rādheya Saṃvāda and Tactical Exchange
Chapter 55
संततास्तत्र मातड्भरा बाणैरल्पान्तरान्तरे । संवृतास्तेन दृश्यन्ते मेघा इव गभस्तिभि:
santatās tatra mātaṅgabharā bāṇair alpāntarāntare | saṃvṛtās tena dṛśyante meghā iva gabhastibhiḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Dort auf dem Schlachtfeld wurden die Leiber der Elefanten unablässig in sehr kurzen Abständen von Pfeilen durchbohrt. Von diesen Schäften ganz bedeckt, erschienen sie wie dichte Wolken, die von den Strahlen der Sonne verschleiert sind.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a stark ethical reminder through imagery: war’s glory is inseparable from pervasive suffering. By comparing arrow-covered elephants to clouds veiled by sunlight, it emphasizes how violence obscures life and dignity, urging reflection on the human and animal cost of conflict.
The narrator describes the battlefield scene: elephants standing in combat have their bodies densely riddled with arrows, so thoroughly covered that they resemble clouds wrapped in sunbeams.