Shloka 17
गौरुडव्यूह-रचना तथा अर्धचन्द्र-प्रत्यव्यूह
Garuḍa Array and the Ardhacandra Counter-Formation
सरथा रथिनश्चापि विमृद्नन्त: समन्ततः । मतवाले हाथी उन घोड़ोंके पीछे पड़े थे, जिनके सवार मारे गये थे। इसी प्रकार रथोंसहित रथी चारों ओर भूतलपर पड़ी हुई लाशोंको रौंदते हुए विचरण करते थे ।। १६३ || स्यन्दनादपतत् कक्षिन्निहतो5न्येन सायकै:,जिघांसन्तं युधां श्रेष्ठ तदा55सीत् तुमुलं महत् । संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! पाण्डवपक्षके लाखों क्षत्रियशिरोमणि महारथी विराट सेनापति शूरवीर श्वेतको आगे करके आपके पुत्र दुर्योधनको अपना बल दिखाते हुए शिखण्डीको सामने रखकर भीष्मके सुवर्णभूषित रथपर चढ़ आये। भारत! वे महारथी श्लेतकी रक्षा करना चाहते थे। इसलिये उसे मारनेकी इच्छावाले योद्धाओंमें श्रेष्ठ भीष्मपर उन्होंने धावा किया। उस समय बड़ा भयंकर युद्ध छिड़ गया
sa-rathā rathinaś cāpi vimṛdnantaḥ samantataḥ | syandanād apatat kaścin nihato 'nyena sāyakaiḥ | jighāṃsantaṃ yudhāṃ śreṣṭha tadā 'sīt tumulaṃ mahat ||
Sañjaya said: “All around, chariot-warriors with their chariots crushed down whatever lay in their path. From a chariot one fighter fell, struck down by another’s arrows. As the foremost warriors pressed in, intent on killing, the battle at that moment swelled into a vast and tumultuous uproar.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral weight and inevitability of consequences in war: once warriors become intent on killing, the battlefield turns into indiscriminate chaos where bodies are trampled and lives fall suddenly—highlighting the grave cost that accompanies kṣatriya conflict.
Sañjaya reports to the king that chariot-warriors are surging on all sides, crushing through the field; one fighter is seen falling from his chariot after being struck by another’s arrows, and the fighting intensifies into a great, tumultuous clash.