Shloka 1636
बभ्रमु: समरे नागा मृद्नन्त: शतशो नरान् । कितने ही गजराज अपने दाँतोंमें लगी हुई मनुष्योंकी आँतें लिये समरभूमिमें सैकड़ों योद्धाओंको कुचलते हुए चक्कर लगा रहे थे
babhromuḥ samare nāgā mṛdnantaḥ śataśo narān | katine hī gajarājāḥ svadantāntaralagnā manuṣyāṇām āntre dhṛtvā samarabhūmau saikṛt śataśo yoddhṝn mardayantaḥ paribabhramuḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, the great elephants wheeled about, trampling men by the hundreds. Some lordly tuskers, with human entrails caught upon their tusks, circled across the field, crushing scores of warriors.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral horror and human cost of unchecked warfare: once violence escalates, even noble instruments of battle (war-elephants) become agents of indiscriminate destruction, reminding the listener that dharma requires restraint and accountability even amid kṣatriya conflict.
Sañjaya describes a chaotic battlefield scene in which war-elephants circle and rampage, trampling large numbers of men; some tuskers are so deep in slaughter that entrails cling to their tusks as they crush warriors across the field.