Shloka 59
अयुतं दन्तिनां सार्थ कृपस्थ निजघान सः । पज्चायुतानि चाश्वानां शकुनेर्निजघान ह,तदनन्तर कृपाचार्यकी सेनाके पंद्रह हजार हाथियोंका वध कर डाला; इसी तरह शकुनिके पचास हजार घोड़ोंको भी उन्होंने मार गिराया
ayutaṃ dantināṃ sārthaṃ kṛpastha nijaghāna saḥ | pañcāyutāni cāśvānāṃ śakuner nijaghāna ha ||
Sañjaya said: Stationed with Kṛpa’s division, he cut down a full ten thousand elephants in a single mass. Thereafter, he also slew fifty thousand horses belonging to Śakuni.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war reduces living beings to numbers and tallies of destruction; within the Mahābhārata’s dharma framework, such scenes function as a moral mirror—valor and success are shown alongside the heavy ethical burden and the erosion of restraint in a conflict that claims to be righteous.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield feat: a warrior positioned with Kṛpa’s forces slaughters ten thousand elephants, and then kills fifty thousand horses belonging to Śakuni’s side, emphasizing the scale and ferocity of the fighting.