Shloka 28
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
पुंस्त्वादतिमदत्वाच्च केचित् तत्र महागजा: । साश्वारोहान् हयाञ्जघ्नु: करै: सचरणैस्तथा,वहाँ कितने ही महान् गज अत्यन्त मदोन्मत्त तथा पुरुष होनेके कारण सूँड़ों और पैरोंसे घोड़ों और घुड़सवारोंका संहार कर डालते थे
puṁstvād atimadattvāc ca kecit tatra mahāgajāḥ | sāśvārōhān hayān jaghnuḥ karaiḥ sacaraṇais tathā ||
Sañjaya said: There, some mighty elephants—driven wild by their musth and by their aggressive, virile force—slew horses and their riders alike, striking them down with their trunks and trampling them underfoot. The scene shows how, in the fury of battle, even noble war-beasts become instruments of indiscriminate destruction, sweeping away both mount and man.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dehumanizing momentum of war: once unleashed, martial power—here embodied by musth-maddened elephants—can become indiscriminate, crushing both rider and mount. It implicitly cautions that strength without restraint (saṁyama) turns into destructive excess.
Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where powerful elephants, crazed with musth and aggression, kill horses and mounted warriors by striking with their trunks and trampling with their feet.