Shloka 23
Cakravyūha-saṃkalpaḥ, Saṃśaptaka-āhvānaṃ, Saubhadra-vikrīḍitam
Drona Parva, Adhyāya 32
सारोहश्चापतद् वाजी गजेनाभ्याहतो भूशम् | निर्मर्यादं महद् युद्धमवर्तत सुदारुणम्,किसी रथीने नाराचके द्वारा गजराजपर आघात किया और वह धराशायी हो गया। किसी हाथीके वेगपूर्वक आघात करनेपर सवारसहित घोड़ा धरतीपर ढेर हो गया। इस प्रकार वहाँ मर्यादाशून्य अत्यन्त भयंकर एवं महान् युद्ध होने लगा
sārohaś cāpatad vājī gajenābhyāhato bhūśam | nirmaryādaṁ mahad yuddham avartata sudāruṇam ||
Sañjaya said: A horse, together with its rider, was struck by an elephant and fell heavily to the ground. Thus, in that place a great and exceedingly dreadful battle began to rage—one that had slipped beyond all bounds of restraint, where the usual limits of righteous conduct in war were no longer observed.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare can degenerate into nirmaryāda—unrestrained violence—where the customary boundaries meant to preserve dharma in combat collapse. It implicitly warns that when restraint is lost, suffering multiplies and ethical order is endangered.
Sañjaya describes battlefield scenes: an elephant’s forceful blow brings down a horse along with its rider, and the fighting intensifies into a vast, terrifying conflict characterized by a breakdown of restraint and rules.