Shloka 5
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
नागान् नागा: समासाद्य व्यधमन्त परस्परम् । हया हयांश्व॒ समरे रथिनो रथिनस्तथा
sañjaya uvāca | nāgān nāgāḥ samāsādya vyadhamanta parasparam | hayā hayaṃś ca samare rathino rathinas tathā | nāgāś ca samare yuddhaṃ mamṛduḥ śīghragā nṛpa |
Sañjaya berkata: Gajah-gajah mendekat kepada gajah-gajah lain, saling menghantam dan menimpakan derita satu sama lain. Di medan laga, kuda berdesakan melawan kuda, para kesatria kereta melawan kesatria kereta; dan gajah-gajah yang bergerak cepat, wahai Raja, menginjak-injak serta menghancurkan barisan lawan dalam hiruk-pikuk pertempuran. Demikianlah tiap unsur bala bertubrukan dengan pasangannya, sementara binatang-binatang raksasa itu, digerakkan oleh amarah dan laju, menerjang pula ke divisi-divisi lainnya.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily functions as vivid battlefield reportage rather than moral instruction: it underscores how war collapses order into mutual harm, where even the organized ‘fourfold army’ (elephants, chariots, cavalry, infantry) becomes a scene of indiscriminate crushing and reciprocal suffering.
Sañjaya describes the clash of the opposing armies: elephants collide with elephants, horses with horses, and chariot-fighters with chariot-fighters, while swift elephants trample and crush troops amid the tumult of the fight.