Shloka 27
Adhyāya 140: Rātriyuddhe Droṇa-prāpti-prayatnaḥ
Night engagement and the attempt to reach Droṇa
निपातितध्वजरथं हतवाजिनरद्धिपम्,विमर्द: कर्णभीमाभ्यामासीच्च परमो रणे | नरेश्वर! जैसे दो हाथी किसीसे प्रेरित होकर नरकुलके वनको रौंद डालते हैं, उसी प्रकार मेघोंकी घटाके समान आपकी सेना बड़ी दुरवस्थामें पड़ गयी थी। उसके रथ और ध्वज गिराये जा चुके थे। हाथी, घोड़े और मनुष्य मारे गये थे। कर्ण और भीमसेनने उस युद्धस्थलमें महान् संहार मचा रखा था
sañjaya uvāca |
nipātita-dhvaja-rathaṃ hata-vājina-narādhipam |
vimardaḥ karṇa-bhīmābhyām āsīc ca paramo raṇe ||
Sañjaya said: “O king, in that battle your host was thrown into grievous distress—its chariots and standards had been brought down, its horses and warriors slain. A supreme and crushing melee arose there between Karṇa and Bhīmasena, and the field was filled with devastation. The image is of irresistible force trampling all before it, showing how unchecked martial fury can reduce an army to ruin.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how the momentum of war—once unleashed—can rapidly collapse order and honor (fallen banners and chariots) into chaos and mass death. It implicitly warns that power and valor, when driven by enmity, produce collective ruin, not lasting righteousness.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava forces are in severe disarray: standards and chariots are down, horses and warriors are slain, and a fierce melee led by Karṇa and Bhīmasena is wreaking great destruction on the battlefield.