Shloka 5
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 50 — Arjuna’s foreboding and lament for Abhimanyu; Kṛṣṇa’s dharma-consolation
महाभ्रकूटाचलश्ज्जञसंनिभै- गजैरनेकैरिव वज्रपातितै: । स वैजयन्त्यड्कुशवर्मयन्तृभि- न्पातितैर्नष्टगतिक्षिता क्षिति:,महान् मेघोंके समुदाय तथा पर्वतशिखरोंके समान विशालकाय बहुसंख्यक हाथी इस प्रकार पड़े थे, मानो वज्से मार गिराये गये हों। वैजयन्ती पताका, अंकुश, कवच और महावतोंसहित धराशायी किये गये उन गजराजोंकी लाशोंसे सारी धरती पट गयी थी, जिसके कारण वहाँ चलने-फिरनेका मार्ग बंद हो गया था
sañjaya uvāca |
mahābhrakūṭācalasajjñasaṃnibhaiḥ
gajair anekair iva vajrapātitaiḥ |
sa vaijayanty-aṅkuśa-varma-yantribhiḥ
nipātitair naṣṭa-gati-kṣitā kṣitiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Many huge elephants lay strewn about, resembling lofty mountain-peaks and as if struck down by thunderbolts. With those elephant-kings felled—together with their vaijayantī standards, goads, armor, and drivers—the very earth was carpeted with their bodies, so that movement became impossible there. The scene underscores the crushing cost of war: power and pageantry collapse alike, and the battlefield turns into an obstruction to life itself.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the devastating, indiscriminate aftermath of war: even the mightiest instruments of royal power—war-elephants with banners, armor, and trained drivers—are reduced to lifeless obstacles. It implicitly warns that martial glory is transient and that violence produces suffering that blocks the normal course of life.
Sañjaya describes a battlefield scene where numerous gigantic elephants have been slain and lie scattered like mountain peaks, as though struck by thunderbolts. Their fallen bodies, along with their standards, goads, armor, and mahouts, cover the ground so densely that passage through the area is obstructed.