Shloka 45
Droṇa’s Renewed Advance toward Yudhiṣṭhira; Fall of Satyajit and Allied Recoil (द्रोणस्य युधिष्ठिरप्रेप्सा—सत्यजितः पतनम्)
महामात्रैर्महामात्रास्ताडिता: शरतोमरै: । गजेभ्य: पृथिवीं जम्मुर्मुक्तप्रहरणाड्कुशा:,महावतोंने बाणों और तोमरोंसे महावतोंको भी घायल कर दिया था। अतः वे हाथियोंसे पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े और उनके आयुध एवं अंकुश हाथोंसे छूटकर इधर-उधर जा गिरे
sañjaya uvāca | mahāmātrair mahāmātrās tāḍitāḥ śara-tomaraiḥ | gajebhyaḥ pṛthivīṃ jagmur mukta-praharaṇāṅkuśāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The elephant-drivers (mahāmātras), struck down by arrows and javelins, fell from their elephants onto the earth; their weapons and goads slipped from their hands and scattered in all directions.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the cascading harm of war: even non-royal combatants like mahouts, whose role is to control powerful animals, become targets and casualties. Ethically, it points to how violence erodes restraint—once the controller falls, the instrument of force (the elephant) becomes uncontrolled, intensifying chaos and suffering.
Sañjaya describes mahouts being struck by arrows and javelins; they tumble from their elephants to the ground, and their weapons and elephant-goads drop from their hands and scatter.