Shloka 8

Devanagari script

सुवर्णजालावतता महागजा: सवैजयन्तीध्वजयोधकल्पिता: । सुवर्णपुड्खैरिषुभि: समाचिता- श्षकाशिरे प्रज्वयलिता यथाचला:

Transliteration

suvarṇajālāvatatā mahāgajāḥ savaijayantīdhvajayodhakalpitāḥ | suvarṇapuḍkhair iṣubhiḥ samācitāḥ prakāśire prajvalitā yathācalāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: The great war-elephants, draped in nets of gold, adorned with Vaijayantī banners, and fully equipped for battle, shone forth—thickly covered with arrows whose golden fletchings flashed—like mountains blazing with fire. The image heightens the moral weight of the scene: splendour and martial display conceal the grim reality that living beings are being turned into instruments of destruction in a war where dharma is under strain.

Word by Word

• {'suvarṇa': 'gold', 'jāla': 'net, mesh', 'āvatata': 'spread out, draped, extended', 'mahāgaja': 'great elephant

• war-elephant', 'vaijayantī': 'a victory-banner/standard

• emblem of triumph', 'dhvaja': 'banner, flag', 'yodha': 'warrior, fighter', 'kalpita': 'arranged, equipped, made ready', 'puḍkha': 'fletching/feathering of an arrow', 'iṣu': 'arrow', 'samācita': 'filled, covered, heaped, crowded with', 'prakāśire': 'they shone, appeared radiant', 'prajvalita': 'blazing, aflame', 'yathā': 'like, as', 'acala': 'mountain (lit. immovable)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• mahāgajāḥ (war-elephants)
• vaijayantī-dhvaja (victory banners/standards)
• iṣavaḥ (arrows)
• acala (mountains)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how the outward brilliance of war—gold, banners, and spectacle—can mask its inner cost: living beings wounded and driven into violence. It invites reflection on dharma under pressure, where glory and destruction appear side by side.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene: massive elephants, decorated with golden netting and victory standards, are so covered with arrows bearing golden fletchings that they gleam like burning mountains.