Shloka 34

Daśame’hani Bhīṣma-yuddham — Śikhaṇḍī-rakṣaṇa, Arjuna-prabhāva, Duryodhana-āśraya-vākyam

Devanagari script

आर्तनादं रणे चक्रुर्गर्जन्तोी जलदा इव । महाबली भीमसेनकी गदासे आहत हुए दन्तार हाथी युद्धस्थलमें गरजते हुए मेघोंके समान आर्तनाद करने लगे ।। बहुधा दारितश्वैव विषाणैस्तत्र दन्तिभि:

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | ārtanādaṃ raṇe cakrur garjanto jaladā iva | mahābalī bhīmasenasya gadayā āhatā dantinaḥ hastinaḥ yuddhasthale garjanto meghā iva ārtanādaṃ cakruḥ | bahudhā dāritāś caiva viṣāṇais tatra dantibhiḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: In the battle, the elephants, struck by the mighty Bhīmasena’s mace, raised cries of anguish, roaring like rain-clouds. On that field, many were also torn and gored there by the tusks of the elephants.

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sañjaya said', 'ārtanāda': 'cry of distress, anguished wail', 'raṇa': 'battle, combat', 'cakruḥ': 'they made, they uttered', 'garjantaḥ': 'roaring, thundering', 'jalada': 'rain-cloud', 'iva': 'like, as', 'mahābalī': 'very powerful, mighty', 'bhīmasena': 'Bhīma (son of Pāṇḍu), the strong-armed warrior', 'gadā': 'mace (club weapon)', 'āhata': 'struck, smitten', 'dantin / dantibhiḥ': 'elephant

• by elephants (instrumental plural)', 'hastin': 'elephant', 'yuddhasthala': 'battlefield', 'megha': 'cloud', 'bahudhā': 'in many ways

• in many instances', 'dārita': 'torn, split, rent', 'viṣāṇa': 'tusk (lit. horn

• used for elephant tusk in context)', 'tatra': 'there'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• gadā (mace)
• hastinaḥ/dantinaḥ (elephants)
• yuddhasthala (battlefield)
• jaladā/meghāḥ (rain-clouds, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the harsh reality of war: even the strongest forces (war-elephants) suffer grievously, and the battlefield amplifies pain and destruction. It implicitly cautions that martial glory is inseparable from widespread suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Bhīma striking elephants with his mace. Wounded elephants cry out and roar like thunderclouds, while elsewhere elephants gore and tear others with their tusks—depicting the chaos and brutality of the fight.