Shloka 716
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
सारोहा निहता: पेतुर्वजभिन्ना इवाद्रय: । जैसे पर्वतोंके शिखर टूटकर निम्न देशसे लुढ़कते हुए नीचे गिर पड़ते हैं तथा जैसे वज्से विदीर्ण किये हुए पर्वत धराशायी हो जाते हैं
sārohā nihatāḥ petur vajrabhinna ivādrayaḥ |
Sañjaya said: The elephants, struck down together with their riders, collapsed to the earth—like mountains whose peaks break and tumble into the lowlands, or like crags split by a thunderbolt and laid waste. The image proclaims the war’s crushing force: even the mightiest supports of an army fall suddenly, and with them those who relied on their height and power.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly power in war: even the strongest instruments of dominance—war-elephants and their elevated riders—can be brought down in an instant. It implicitly warns against pride in might and status, emphasizing impermanence amid adharma-driven destruction.
Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment in which elephants, killed along with their riders, crash to the ground. He intensifies the scene through a simile: their fall resembles mountains shattered by a thunderbolt and collapsing from their heights.