Shloka 62
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
अपरे निष्टनन्तश्न व्यदृश्यन्त महाद्विपा: । क्षरन्त: शोणितं गात्रैनगा इव जलस््रवा:
apare niṣṭanantaś ca vyadṛśyanta mahādvipāḥ | kṣarantaḥ śoṇitaṃ gātrair nagā iva jalasravāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Many other great elephants were seen, crying out in agony, their bodies streaming with blood—like mountains pouring down torrents from their slopes. The image underscores the terrible cost of battle: even the mightiest beings, driven into war, become spectacles of suffering.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical gravity of war by foregrounding suffering rather than glory: power and size do not protect beings from pain, and violence turns even noble creatures into victims—inviting reflection on the human responsibility behind such destruction.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: many huge elephants are visible, crying out and bleeding profusely, compared to mountains releasing cascades—an intense visual of the carnage during the Karṇa Parva fighting.