Shloka 25
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
कृत्ताग्रहस्तै: करिभि: कृत्तदन्तैर्मदोत्कटै: । हयैश्न विधुरग्रीवै रथैश्न शकलीकृतै:
kṛttāgrahastaiḥ karibhiḥ kṛttadantair madotkaṭaiḥ | hayaiś ca vidhuragrīvair rathaiś ca śakalīkṛtaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The battlefield was strewn with elephants whose trunks had been hewn off, their tusks shattered, yet still raging in musth; with horses whose necks were broken; and with chariots smashed into fragments.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the grim consequence of war: even the mightiest instruments of power—elephants, horses, and chariots—are reduced to ruin. It implicitly cautions that martial prowess and pride (mada) are transient, and that violence, once unleashed, consumes all supports of worldly strength.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the aftermath and intensity of fighting in the Droṇa Parva: the field is filled with mutilated elephants in musth, horses with broken necks, and chariots smashed to pieces—vividly conveying the scale of destruction.