Shloka 18
शरशतक्त्यर्दिता: क्लान्ता रात्रिमूढाल्पचेतस: । विष्टभ्य सर्वगात्राणि व्यतिष्ठन् गजवाजिन:,रात्रिके युद्धसे मोहित, अल्प चेतनावाले, बाणों और शक्तियोंसे पीड़ित तथा थके-माँदे हाथी एवं घोड़े आदि वाहन अपने सारे अंगोंको स्तब्ध करके वहाँ खड़े थे
śaraśataktī-arditāḥ klāntā rātrimūḍhālpacetasaḥ | viṣṭabhya sarvagātrāṇi vyatiṣṭhan gajavājinaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Struck by hundreds of arrows and javelins, exhausted, and bewildered by the night with their senses dulled, the elephants and horses stood there—bracing and stiffening all their limbs.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dehumanizing and indiscriminate nature of warfare: in the confusion of night, even mighty war-animals become stunned and immobilized by pain and exhaustion. It implicitly raises an ethical awareness about the suffering inflicted on all beings in battle and the heightened moral peril of fighting in darkness.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at night: elephants and horses, wounded by volleys of arrows and javelins, are exhausted and mentally dazed. They brace their bodies and stand motionless, conveying a moment of grim stillness amid nocturnal combat.