Shloka 7

इन्द्रजिद्-लक्ष्मणयुद्धम्

Indrajit and Lakṣmaṇa: Escalation through Concealment

Devanagari script

गजं तु सगजारोहं पदातींश्व चतुर्दश । जघान गदया भीम: सैन्धवध्वजिनीमुखे,उन्होंने जयद्रथकी सेनाके मुहानेपर जाकर अपनी गदाकी चोटसे सवारसहित एक हाथी और चौदह पैदलोंको मार डाला

Transliteration

gajaṃ tu sagajārohaṃ padātīṃś ca caturdaśa | jaghāna gadayā bhīmaḥ saindhavadhvajinīmukhe ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: At the very front of Jayadratha’s army, Bhīma struck down with his mace an elephant together with its rider, and fourteen foot-soldiers.

Word by Word

गजम्an elephant

तुbut/indeed

सगजारोहम्with its rider (lit. having an elephant-rider)

पदातीन्foot-soldiers

चand

चतुर्दशfourteen

जघानslew/killed

गदयाwith a mace

भीमःBhima

सैन्धवध्वजिनीमुखेat the front (mouth) of the Saindhava army

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bhīma

Jayadratha (Saindhava)

gajāroha (elephant-rider)

gaja (elephant)

padāti (infantry)

gadā (mace)

Saindhava-dhvajinī (Jayadratha’s army)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights kṣatriya-duty in a battlefield context: decisive force is employed to halt an enemy formation. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s tension between compassion and the harsh obligations of war—violence is portrayed as instrumental to protecting one’s side and fulfilling vowed responsibility, not as an end in itself.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates that Bhīma, reaching the forefront of Jayadratha’s forces, uses his mace to kill an elephant along with its rider and fourteen infantrymen, thereby breaking into or checking the enemy’s front line.