Shloka 33

भीष्मपर्व — अध्याय ९६: सौभद्रस्य आक्रमणम्, अलम्बुसस्य प्रतिविधानम्

Abhimanyu’s assault; Alambusa’s counter-engagement

Devanagari script

प्रेषिताश्न महामात्रैवरिणा: परवारणै:। अभ्यघ्नन्त विषाणाग्रैरवारिणानेव संयुगे

Transliteration

preṣitāś ca mahāmātrair ariṇāḥ paravāraṇaiḥ | abhyaghnanta viṣāṇāgrair avāriṇān eva saṁyuge ||

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Poussés en avant par leurs grands commandants, les éléphants de l’ennemi, heurtant de front les éléphants adverses, les frappaient au cœur de la mêlée avec les pointes acérées de leurs défenses.

Word by Word

• प्रेषिताः: urged/impelled (set in motion)
• प्रेषिताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रेषित (√इष्/√प्रेष् caus. past pass. part.)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महामात्रैः: by the elephant-drivers/mahouts
• महामात्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामात्र
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• वरिणाः: elephants (war-elephants)
• वरिणाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वरिण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• परवारणैः: with/against enemy elephants
• परवारणैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर-वारण
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• अभ्यघ्नन्: they struck/smote
• Type: Verb
• Root: √हन् (abhi + han)
• Form: Imperfect, 3rd, Plural

• विषाणाग्रैः: with the tips of (their) tusks
• विषाणाग्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषाण-अग्र
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• अवारिणा: irresistibly/unchecked (as by an unresisted force)
• अवारिणा: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अ-वारिन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• इव: as/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• संयुगे: in battle
• संयुगे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: संयुग
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• enemy elephants
• opposing elephants
• tusks

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how warfare amplifies violence through hierarchy: commanders direct, and powerful creatures become instruments of harm. Ethically, it highlights the tragic reduction of life to weaponry and the momentum of conflict once unleashed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield moment where enemy elephants, urged on by their commanders, collide with opposing elephants and gore them with their tusk-tips amid the fighting.