Shloka 5
Adhyāya 16: Saṃśaptaka-vrata and the Diversion of Arjuna (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय १६)
हयौघांश्र॒ रथौघांक्ष॒ गजौघांश्व॒ महारथ: । अपातयद्ू रणे राजन् शतशोडथ सहस्रश:,नरेश्वर! उस महारथी वीरने रणभूमिमें घोड़ों, रथों और हाथियोंके सैकड़ों-हजारों समूहोंको मार गिराया
hayaughāṁś ca rathaughāṁś ca gajaughāṁś ca mahārathaḥ | apātayad raṇe rājan śataśo 'tha sahasraśaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Ô roi, ce grand guerrier de char abattit au combat—par centaines et même par milliers—des masses serrées de chevaux, de chars et d’éléphants. Le vers souligne l’ampleur écrasante de la violence sur le champ de bataille, où la prouesse martiale se manifeste en vaste destruction plutôt qu’en retenue mesurée.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the immense, impersonal scale of wartime destruction: a single elite warrior can annihilate vast formations. Ethically, it invites reflection on how martial excellence, when embedded in total war, results in mass suffering—raising tension between kṣatriya valor and the human cost of conflict.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that an unnamed great warrior (mahāratha) is felling large groups of cavalry, chariots, and elephants on the battlefield—hundreds and thousands at a time—conveying the ferocity and momentum of the ongoing combat in Droṇa Parva.