Shloka 7
Aśvatthāmā’s Lamentation, Vow of Retaliation, and the Manifestation of the Nārāyaṇāstra (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६६)
असज्जन्त ततो वीरा वीरेष्वेव पृथक् पृथक् नागा नागै: समाजम्मुस्तुरगा हयसादिभि:,उस समय वीरगण विपक्षी वीरोंके साथ पृथक्-पृथक् भिड़ गये। हाथी हाथियोंके और घुड़सवार घुड़सवारोंके साथ जूझने लगे
asajjanta tato vīrā vīreṣv eva pṛthak pṛthak | nāgā nāgaiḥ samāyattāḥ turagā haya-sādibhiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then the warriors closed in—each hero engaging an opposing hero in separate, single clashes. Elephants grappled with elephants, and the horsemen fought horsemen, as the battle lines sorted themselves by like against like.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the regulated, class-to-class engagement typical of a dharma-oriented battlefield ideal: combatants pair off in comparable modes (hero with hero, elephant with elephant, cavalry with cavalry), suggesting an attempt—amid chaos—to preserve order and proportionality in violence.
Sañjaya describes the battle intensifying as opposing champions meet individually, while the larger formations naturally align: elephant corps collide with elephant corps, and mounted troops clash with mounted troops.