Shloka 55
Droṇa’s Renewed Advance toward Yudhiṣṭhira; Fall of Satyajit and Allied Recoil (द्रोणस्य युधिष्ठिरप्रेप्सा—सत्यजितः पतनम्)
रथाश्चन रथिभिहीना निर्मनुष्याश्न॒ वाजिन: | हतारोहाश्न मातड़्ा दिशो जम्मुर्भयातुरा:,रथियोंसे रहित रथ, सवारोंसे शून्य घोड़े और जिनके सवार मार डाले गये हैं ऐसे हाथी भयसे व्याकुल हो सम्पूर्ण दिशाओंमें भाग रहे थे
rathāś ca na rathibhir hīnā nirmānuṣāś ca vājiṇaḥ | hatārohāś ca mātaṅgā diśo jagmur bhayāturāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Chariots stood bereft of their charioteers, horses ran about as if riderless, and elephants whose riders had been slain—panic-stricken—fled in every direction.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how warfare, once it crosses limits, destroys not only lives but also order itself: leaderless forces and terrified animals symbolize the collapse of control and the spread of fear—an implicit warning about the ethical cost of violence.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield aftermath: chariots are left without their chariot-warriors, horses run without riders, and elephants whose riders have been killed flee in all directions, overwhelmed by fear.