Shloka 28
Adhyāya 140: Rātriyuddhe Droṇa-prāpti-prayatnaḥ
Night engagement and the attempt to reach Droṇa
गजाभ्यां सम्प्रयुक्ता भ्यामासीन्नलवनं यथा । मेघजालनिभं सैन्यमासीत् तव नराधिप
sañjaya uvāca
gajābhyāṃ samprayuktābhyām āsīn nalavanaṃ yathā | meghajālanibhaṃ sainyam āsīt tava narādhipa ||
Sañjaya said: O king, your army looked like a dense thicket of reeds, as if pressed down and trampled by two elephants; it appeared like a vast mass of cloud-banks—dark, compact, and overwhelming.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly power in war: even a vast army can be crushed and rendered helpless when struck by concentrated force, reminding rulers that might and numbers do not guarantee security.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the appearance and condition of the king’s forces on the battlefield, using vivid similes—reed-thicket trampled by elephants and a dense bank of clouds—to convey their compact, overwhelmed state.