Shloka 6

Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)

Devanagari script

प्रभिन्नास्तु महाकाया: संनिपत्य गजा गजै:

Transliteration

prabhinnāstu mahākāyāḥ saṃnipatya gajā gajaiḥ

Translation

Sañjaya said: The huge-bodied elephants, maddened and in full charge, crashed together—elephant against elephant—signaling the battle’s descent into close, crushing violence where sheer force and discipline contend side by side.

Word by Word

• प्रभिन्नाः: smashed/broken open, rent
• प्रभिन्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रभिन्न (√भिद् + प्र, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• महाकायाः: huge-bodied, massive
• महाकायाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाकाय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• संनिपत्य: having rushed together/closing in
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: संनिपत्य (√पत् + सम्-नि, ल्यप्)

• गजाः: elephants
• गजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गजैः: with/by elephants
• गजैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• elephants (gaja)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the raw momentum of war: when power is unleashed without restraint, destruction becomes immediate and mutual. Implicitly, it highlights the ethical weight of kṣatriya warfare—discipline and responsibility must govern force, or it turns into blind collision.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where massive elephants, driven into a frenzy and urged forward, collide head-on with opposing elephants, intensifying the chaos and brutality of the engagement.