Shloka 14
भीमसेनस्य बहुमहारथसंयुगः
Bhīmasena’s Engagement with Multiple Mahārathas
मुण्डतालवनानीव चकार स रथव्रजान् । निर्मनुष्यान् रथान् राजन् गजाननश्चांश्व संयुगे
sañjaya uvāca
muṇḍatālavanānīva cakāra sa rathavrajān |
nirmanuṣyān rathān rājan gajān aśvāṁś ca saṁyuge ||
Sañjaya dit : Ô Roi, au plus fort de la bataille, il réduisit l’amas des chars à l’état d’un bosquet de palmiers émondés : il laissa des chars sans leurs hommes, et, dans la mêlée, abattit de même éléphants et chevaux. Le vers souligne l’efficacité lugubre de la guerre : la prouesse, célébrée comme art martial, n’est que l’arrachement rapide de la vie et de l’initiative aux instruments et aux êtres du combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the stark moral atmosphere of war: martial excellence can rapidly turn living forces into lifeless instruments. It invites reflection on the cost of kṣatriya duty—valor and skill are praised, yet their immediate fruit is destruction and the sudden emptiness (nirmānuṣyatā) of what moments before was full of life.
Sañjaya reports to the king that a particular warrior (identified in the surrounding passage) is cutting down the chariot formations so thoroughly that the battlefield resembles a grove of palmyra trees with their tops lopped off; chariots are left without their riders, and elephants and horses are also struck down amid the fighting.