Shloka 14
आक्रोशन् कुण्जरास्तत्र शरवर्षप्रतापिता: । तावकानां परेषां च संयुगे भरतर्षभ
ākrośan kuñjarās tatra śaravarṣapratāpitāḥ | tāvakānāṁ pareṣāṁ ca saṁyuge bharatarṣabha ||
Sañjaya said: There, in the thick of battle, the elephants—scorched and driven frantic by the storm of arrows—cried out loudly, on both sides, yours and the enemy’s, O bull among the Bharatas.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the indiscriminate nature of wartime suffering: even powerful creatures like elephants are reduced to cries of pain under relentless violence, and the torment falls on both sides alike—inviting reflection on the ethical cost of battle.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield where elephants from both the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava forces, struck and tormented by a heavy barrage of arrows, are bellowing in distress amid the ongoing combat.