Shloka 4
तव नृप रथिवर्यास्तान् दशैकं च वीरान् नृवर शरवराग्रैस्ताडयन्तो5 भ्यरुन्धन् । नवजलदसवर्णहस्तिभिस्तानुदीयु- गिरिशिखरनिकाशैर्भीमवेगै: कुलिन्दा:
tava nṛpa rathivaryās tān daśaikaṃ ca vīrān nṛvara śaravarāgrais tāḍayanto ’bhyarundhan | navajaladasavarṇahastibhis tānudīyur giriśikharanikāśair bhīmavegaiḥ kulindāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O king, your foremost chariot-warriors—those eleven heroes—were checked and hemmed in as they were struck by volleys of sharp arrows. Then the Kulindas surged forward with elephant-troops dark as fresh rain-clouds, their charge terrifying in speed, like mountain-peaks in mass—pressing into the battle with overwhelming force.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a battlefield ethic of disciplined resistance and coordinated assault: elite warriors can be halted by concentrated missile-fire, while massed forces (elephants) can decisively shift momentum. Implicitly, it highlights how power in war depends not only on individual heroism but on collective strategy and timing.
Sañjaya reports to the king that the Kaurava’s leading chariot-fighters—eleven in number—were struck by sharp arrow-showers and thereby checked. Immediately after, the Kulindas advanced in a powerful charge with elephant troops, dark as rain-clouds and massive like mountain peaks, intensifying the pressure in the fight.