Shloka 36
भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ९६: सौभद्रस्य आक्रमणम्, अलम्बुसस्य प्रतिविधानम्
Abhimanyu’s assault; Alambusa’s counter-engagement
केचिट्धस्तैर्द्धिधा च्छिन्नैश्छिन्नगात्रास्तथापरे | निपेतुस्तुमुले तस्मिंश्छिन्नपक्षा इवाद्रय:,किन्हींकी सूँड्रोंक दो टुकड़े हो गये थे, किन्हींके सभी अंग छिन्न-भिन्न हो गये थे, ऐसे हाथी पंख कटे पर्वतोंके समान उस भयानक युद्धमें धड़ाधड़ गिर रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca | kecid hastair dvidhā chinnaiś chinnagātrās tathāpare | nipetus tumule tasmiṃś chinnapakṣā ivādrayaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In that dreadful and tumultuous battle, some elephants fell with their trunks cut in two, while others—having their limbs hewn apart—collapsed in heaps, like mountains whose wings have been shorn.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the catastrophic cost of war: even the mightiest beings (war-elephants) are reduced to ruin. Ethically, it functions as a stark reminder of the suffering produced by adharma-driven conflict and the impermanence of power and bodily strength.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where elephants are being grievously wounded—trunks split, limbs severed—and falling repeatedly amid the uproar, compared to wing-shorn mountains collapsing.