Shloka 7
गजैनिकृत्तैर्वरहस्तगात्रै- रुद्वेपमानै: पतितै: पृथिव्याम् । विशीर्णदन्तै: क्षतजं वमद्धि: स्फुरद्धिरातैं: करुणं नदद्धिः
gajainikṛttair varahastagātrair udvepamānaiḥ patitaiḥ pṛthivyām | viśīrṇadantaiḥ kṣatajaṃ vamadbhiḥ sphuraddhir ārtaiḥ karuṇaṃ nadadbhiḥ ||
Śalya berkata: “Belalai dan anggota-anggota perkasa para gajah telah tertebas dan tercerai-berai. Sebagian, jatuh ke tanah, masih gemetar; sebagian gadingnya remuk. Mereka memuntahkan darah, menggeliat dalam derita, dan merintih dengan suara yang memilukan.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tragic, dehumanizing (and ‘de-animalizing’) consequences of war: strength and grandeur collapse into pain and helplessness. By making the listener confront suffering directly, it implicitly raises an ethical awareness of the cost of violence even within the framework of kṣatriya duty.
Śalya describes the battlefield scene: elephants have been mutilated—trunks and limbs cut, tusks broken—and they lie fallen, trembling, vomiting blood, and crying out in agony. The description intensifies the horror of the ongoing combat in the Karṇa Parva.