Shloka 40
Droṇa’s Renewed Advance toward Yudhiṣṭhira; Fall of Satyajit and Allied Recoil (द्रोणस्य युधिष्ठिरप्रेप्सा—सत्यजितः पतनम्)
उन हाथियोंकी पीठपर फहराती हुई पताकाएँ वहाँसे टूट-टूटकर गिरने लगीं। उनके दाँतोंक आपसमें टकरानेसे आग प्रकट होने लगी। इससे वे आकाशमें छाये हुए बिजलीसहित मेघोंके समान जान पड़ते थे ।। विक्षिपद्धिर्नदद्धिश्न निपतद्/िश्न वारणै: । सम्बभूव मही कीर्णा मेघैद्यौरिव शारदी,कोई हाथी दूसरे योद्धाओंको उठाकर फेंकते थे, कोई गरज रहे थे और कुछ हाथी मरकर धराशायी हो रहे थे। उनकी लाशोंसे आच्छादित हुई भूमि शरद्-ऋतुके आरम्भमें मेघोंसे आच्छादित आकाशके समान प्रतीत होती थी
sañjaya uvāca | vikṣipadbhiḥ nadadbhiś ca nipatadbhiś ca vāraṇaiḥ | sambabhūva mahī kīrṇā meghair dyaur iva śāradī ||
Sañjaya said: The banners on the elephants’ backs broke and fell, and from the clash of their tusks fire seemed to spring forth; thus they looked like clouds with lightning spread across the sky. Some elephants lifted and hurled warriors, some trumpeted, and some fell dead; the earth, strewn with their bodies, resembled the autumn sky when it is covered with clouds.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse offers a stark meditation on the cost of war: even the mightiest forces (war-elephants) become instruments and victims of destruction, leaving the earth covered with death. The simile of the clouded autumn sky highlights how violence can blanket the world, reminding the listener of impermanence and the ethical gravity of battle.
Sañjaya describes the chaos of the Drona Parva battle: elephants are tossing fighters, trumpeting, and falling dead. Their bodies litter the ground so densely that the earth appears covered, like the autumn sky covered with clouds.