Shloka 6.75.28
लङ्कादाह-प्रचोदनं तथा वानर-राक्षस-समरारम्भः (The Burning of Lanka and the Outbreak of Battle)
हस्त्यध्यक्षैर्गजैर्मुक्तेर्मुक्सैश्चैवतुरङ्गमैः ।बभूवलङ्कालोकान्तेभ्रान्तग्राहइवार्णवः ।।।।
hastyadhyakṣair gajair muktair muktaiś caiva turaṅgamaiḥ |
babhūva laṅkā lokānte bhrāntagrāha ivārṇavaḥ ||
With elephants released by their keepers and horses likewise set loose, Laṅkā became like an ocean at the world’s end—its sea-monsters wildly churned in confusion.
In Lanka with the elephants set free, horses set free by the guards, it was like an agitated ocean at the end of the world cycle.
When rulers abandon Dharma, social order breaks down: even controlled forces (war-animals, cavalry) become ungovernable, mirroring cosmic disorder. Dharma is the principle that restrains violence and preserves stability.
In the burning city, animals are released in panic; the resulting stampede makes Laṅkā resemble a turbulent ocean during cosmic dissolution.
The implied virtue is righteous governance and restraint—Dharma as ‘control’—shown by contrast through the city’s loss of control.