Shloka 5

Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 155 — Ghaṭotkaca-nidhana-śoka and Karṇa-śakti-vyaya

Kṛṣṇa’s strategic reassurance

Devanagari script

वारणाश्न महाराज समासाद्य परस्परम्‌ । विषाणैर्दारयामासु: सुसंक़्रुद्धा मदोत्कटा:

Transliteration

vāraṇāś ca mahārāja samāsādya parasparam | viṣāṇair dārayāmāsuḥ susaṅkruddhā madotkaṭāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: O great king, the elephants, closing in upon one another, tore and gored with their tusks—fiercely enraged and made wild by rut.

Word by Word

• वारणान्: elephants
• वारणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वारण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• समासाद्य: having approached/encountered
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-√सद्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• परस्परम्: each other; mutually
• परस्परम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: परस्पर

• विषाणैः: with (their) tusks
• विषाणैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषाण
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• दारयामासुः: they tore/rent asunder
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दॄ (दारयति) + आ-√अस् (आमास)
• Form: लिट् (periphrastic perfect), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

• सुसंक्रुद्धाः: highly enraged
• सुसंक्रुद्धाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुसंक्रुद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मदोत्कटाः: maddened; in rut/intoxicated with musth
• मदोत्कटाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मदोत्कट
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• war-elephants
• tusks

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger and intoxication (mada) overpower discernment, turning strength into destructive frenzy; it implicitly warns that unchecked passions magnify suffering in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes war-elephants rushing together and goring each other with tusks, driven by intense rage and rut, emphasizing the ferocity and chaos of the battlefield.