Shloka 66
अध्याय ६० — कर्णस्य पाञ्चाल-सोमक-निग्रहः
Karna’s Suppression of the Panchala–Somaka Forces
व्यधमत् तरसा भीमो मेघसड्घानिवानिल: । इसके बाद भीमसेनने जैसे वायु मेघोंकी घटाको छिलन्न-भिन्न कर देती है, उसी प्रकार वहाँ एकत्र हुए हाथियोंके सहस्रों समूहोंको वेगपूर्वक नष्ट कर दिया ।।
sañjaya uvāca | vyadhamat tarasā bhīmo meghasaṅghān ivānilaḥ | suvarṇajālāpihitā maṇijālaiś ca kuñjarāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: With irresistible speed Bhīma scattered them, just as the wind tears apart masses of clouds. There he swiftly crushed the gathered elephant-battalions—elephants covered with nets of gold and adorned with lattices of gems—reducing their proud array to ruin amid the fury of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the epic’s portrayal of kṣatriya prowess and the overwhelming momentum of a warrior in battle. Ethically, it underscores how, within the war’s dharma-framework, martial force is depicted as decisive and almost elemental—yet it also implicitly points to the tragic scale of destruction that war unleashes.
Sañjaya narrates that Bhīma, moving with great speed, scatters and destroys large groups of elephants on the battlefield. The action is intensified through a simile: Bhīma’s onslaught is like the wind shredding dense formations of clouds; the elephants are described as richly caparisoned with gold and jeweled netting.