Shloka 25
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
मातड्ढाश्चाप्यदृश्यन्त शरतोमरपीडिता: । पतन्तस्तत्र तत्रैव छिन्ना भ्रसदृशा रणे,रणभूमिमें बाणों और तोमरोंकी मारसे पीड़ित हो जहाँ-तहाँ गिरते हुए मतवाले हाथी भी कटे हुए बादलोंके समान दिखायी देते थे
mattaḍḍhāś cāpy adṛśyanta śaratomarapīḍitāḥ | patantas tatra tatraiva chinnā bhrasadṛśā raṇe ||
Sañjaya said: Even the maddened elephants, tormented by volleys of arrows and tomara-spears, were seen collapsing here and there on the battlefield—severed and scattered, resembling torn masses of cloud. The scene underscores the brutal, indiscriminate force of war, where even the mightiest creatures are reduced to ruin amid the clash of arms.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the devastating reality of war: power and size offer no immunity from suffering. Ethically, it functions as a stark reminder of the cost of adharma-driven conflict and the fragility of embodied life amid violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene where maddened war-elephants, struck by arrows and tomara-spears, fall in many places, severed and scattered, their broken forms compared to torn clouds.