Shloka 56
अर्जुनने गंगानन्दन भीष्मके निकट पहुँचकर उन्हें तीखे बाणोंद्वारा पीड़ित करते हुए बड़ी सावधानीके साथ उनपर चढ़ाई की। ठीक वैसे ही, जैसे वनमें कोई मतवाला हाथी किसी मदोनन््मत्त गजराजपर आक्रमण कर रहा हो ।।
arjunena gaṅgānandanaṃ bhīṣmaṃ nikatam upasaṃkramya tīkṣṇaiḥ śaraiḥ pīḍayan mahā-sāvadhānena tasminn abhyākrāntam; yathā vane mattaḥ hastī madonmattaṃ gajarājaṃ prati pradhāvati. pratyudyayau ca taṃ rājā bhagadattaḥ pratāpavān | tridhā bhinnena nāgena madāndhena mahābalaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Arjuna drew close to Bhīṣma, the son of the Gaṅgā, and with keen arrows pressed him hard, advancing with great caution—like a maddened elephant in the forest charging a lordly elephant gone wild with rut. Then the mighty and valiant king Bhagadatta counter-charged at Arjuna, mounted upon a rut-maddened war-elephant of immense strength, from whose temples the ichor streamed in three distinct rivulets.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights disciplined valor: even amid ferocity, Arjuna advances with careful alertness, suggesting that righteous combat (dharma-yuddha) demands control, precision, and responsibility rather than mere rage.
Arjuna closes in on Bhīṣma and wounds him with sharp arrows while advancing cautiously. In response, King Bhagadatta launches a counter-charge against Arjuna, riding a powerful musth-elephant whose temples pour rut-fluid in three streams.