Shloka 12
Pāṇḍya-vadha-anantaram Arjunasya Pravṛttiḥ
Arjuna’s Response and the Renewed Battle
अथ ड्विपैदेवपतिद्विपाभै- देवारिदर्पापहमत्युदग्रम् । कलिड्भवज्भजाज्रनिषादवीरा जिघांसव: पाण्डवमभ्यधावन्,तत्पश्चात् कलिंग, अंग, वंग और निषाद देशोंके वीर देवराज इन्द्रके ऐरावत हाथीके समान विशाल गजराजोंपर सवार हो, देवद्रोहियोंका दर्प दलन करनेवाले प्रचण्ड वीर पाण्डुकुमार अर्जुनपर उन्हें मार डालनेकी इच्छासे चढ़ आये
sañjaya uvāca | atha dvipaiḥ devapati-dvipābhaiḥ devāri-darpāpaham atyudagram | kaliṅga-vaṅgāṅga-niṣāda-vīrā jighāṃsavaḥ pāṇḍavam abhyadhāvan ||
Sañjaya said: Then the warriors of Kaliṅga, Aṅga, Vaṅga, and the Niṣādas—mounted on massive, lordly elephants like Airāvata, Indra’s own—charged toward the Pāṇḍava, Arjuna. Burning with the will to kill, they rushed upon that fierce hero who crushes the pride of those hostile to the gods, as the battle’s moral order and cosmic loyalties were invoked amid the violence of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield action through a moral-cosmic lens: Arjuna is portrayed as a force that humbles the arrogance of those aligned against the gods, suggesting that martial prowess is evaluated not only tactically but also by perceived alignment with dharma and divine order.
Sañjaya reports that warriors from Kaliṅga, Aṅga, Vaṅga, and the Niṣādas, riding huge elephants likened to Indra’s Airāvata, surge forward with the intention of killing Arjuna, initiating a concentrated assault by elephant-mounted troops.