Shloka 24
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
दन्तिनश्न नरश्रेष्ठ हीना: परमसादिभि: । मृद्नन्तः स्वान्यनीकानि निपेतु: सर्वशब्दगा:
dantinaś ca naraśreṣṭha hīnāḥ paramasādibhiḥ | mṛdnantaḥ svāny anīkāni nipetuḥ sarvaśabdagāḥ ||
संजय बोले—नरश्रेष्ठ! बहुत-से दन्ती हाथी अपने श्रेष्ठ सवारों से रहित होकर उन्मत्त हो गए थे। वे अपनी ही सेनाओं को रौंदते, हर शब्द से चौंककर इधर-उधर दौड़ते और गिर पड़ते थे; जिससे रणभूमि में भारी आतंक फैल गया।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, loss of skilled guidance and the spread of fear can turn strength into self-destruction: powerful forces (elephants) without proper control become a danger to their own side, illustrating the ethical cost and instability inherent in violent conflict.
Sañjaya describes battlefield disorder: elephants whose expert riders have been removed or slain panic at noises, charge unpredictably, trample their own troops, and collapse into confusion, worsening the rout within their own army.