Shloka 35
Adhyāya 74 (Book 6, Bhīṣma-parva): Bhīma–Duryodhana re-engagement and afternoon escalation
अदृश्यन्त ससूताश्च साश्वा: सरथयोधिन: । एकेन बलिना राजन् वारणेन विमर्दिता:,राजन! कितने ही रथारोही युद्धस्थलमें एक ही महाबली गजराजके द्वारा घोड़ों और सारथियोंसहित कुचले हुए दिखायी पड़ते थे
adṛśyanta sasūtāś ca sāśvāḥ sarathayodhinaḥ | ekena balinā rājan vāraṇena vimarditāḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Ô Roi, on voyait sur le champ de bataille bien des guerriers de char—avec leurs cochers et leurs chevaux—écrasés et piétinés par un seul éléphant d’une force prodigieuse. La scène révélait comment, dans la guerre, la puissance et l’élan peuvent submerger même des combattants bien équipés, changeant l’orgueil des armes en ruine soudaine.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of human power in war: even trained chariot-warriors with horses and charioteers can be undone in an instant by overwhelming force. It implicitly cautions against arrogance in martial strength and highlights the tragic cost inherent in kṣatriya conflict.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that, on the battlefield, many chariot-fighters were visibly crushed—along with their horses and charioteers—by a single powerful elephant, emphasizing the elephant’s devastating charge amid the fighting.