Mahabharata 7.150.49 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 150, Shloka 49
धृतराष्ट्र–संजय संवादः: कर्ण–घटोत्कचयोर्निशायुद्धवर्णनम्
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Sañjaya Dialogue: Description of the Night Engagement of Karṇa and Ghaṭotkaca
पृथिवीमुपगुदाज्लैः सुप्ता: कान्तामिव प्रियाम् इस पृथ्वीके राज्यके लिये मारे गये ये पृथ्वीपति अपने सम्पूर्ण अंगोंद्वारा प्यारी प्राणवललभाके समान इस भूमिका आलिंगन करके इसपर सो रहे हैं ।।
pṛthivīm upagūḍhāṅgaiḥ suptāḥ kāntām iva priyām | imāṃś ca girikūṭābhān nāgān airāvatopamān tāṃś ca bāṇahatān vīra paśya niṣṭanataḥ kṣitau ||
Śrī Kṛṣṇa dit : «Pour la souveraineté sur la terre, ces seigneurs de la terre ont été tués ; de tous leurs membres ils étreignent ce sol comme on étreint une épouse bien-aimée, et ainsi ils dorment sur elle. Et regarde, ô héros : ces éléphants, semblables à des cimes de montagne et comparables à Airāvata, abattus par les flèches, se tordent et gémissent sur la poussière ; de leurs plaies jaillissent des flots de sang, comme les montagnes déversent des torrents rougeâtres par la bouche de leurs cavernes.»
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity and tragic cost of war for power: kings who sought dominion over the earth end by embracing the very earth in death, while even mighty war-elephants collapse and bleed. It highlights impermanence and the sobering consequences of ambition and violence within the frame of kṣatriya warfare.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa directs a warrior’s attention to the battlefield: slain rulers lie on the ground as if asleep, clinging to the earth like a beloved; nearby, huge elephants—likened to mountain peaks and to Airāvata—have been pierced by arrows, groaning and spilling blood as they fall and writhe on the soil.
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