Shloka 156
भीष्मस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति उपालम्भः
Bhīṣma’s Reproof to Duryodhana
पर्वताग्रैश्व वृक्षेश्न निजघ्नुस्ते महागजान् । वे भाँति-भाँतिकी गर्जना करते हुए बिजलीसहित मेघोंके समान शोभा पाते थे। बाण
parvatāgraiś ca vṛkṣaiś ca nijaghnus te mahāgajān |
Sañjaya said: Striking with mountain-peaks and with trees, they felled the mighty elephants. In the tumult of battle, the warriors—roaring in many ways like thunderclouds charged with lightning—began to slaughter the elephant-riders and the huge elephants by blows from arrows and spears, lances and iron darts, bhindipālas and tridents, clubs and axes, as well as by hurling rocks and uprooted trees.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse does not teach a doctrinal maxim directly; it portrays the extremity of battlefield conduct. Ethically, it highlights how war magnifies destructive impulses and how even nature (trees, rocks) is turned into weaponry—inviting reflection on the cost of conflict and the burden borne under kṣatriya-dharma.
Sañjaya describes a fierce phase of the Kurukṣetra battle where warriors, roaring like thunderclouds with lightning, attack and kill massive war-elephants and their riders using conventional weapons (arrows, spears, darts) and improvised ones (rocks and uprooted trees).