Shloka 11
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४१: कर्ण–कृष्णसंवादः, उत्पात-स्वप्न-लक्षणानि
Karna–Krishna Dialogue: Omens and Dream-Signs
प्रभिन्नमिव मातड़ुं प्रतिद्विरदघातिनम् । न तदा भविता त्रेता न कृतं द्वापरं न च
sañjaya uvāca | prabhinnam iva mātaṅgaṁ pratidviradaghātinam | na tadā bhavitā tretā na kṛtaṁ dvāparaṁ na ca ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Pemandangan itu bagaikan gajah jantan yang mengamuk, penghancur gajah-gajah lawan. Ketika engkau melihat Bhīmasena menari setelah meminum darah Duḥśāsana dan, laksana raja gajah yang mengucurkan ichor, meremukkan pasukan gajah musuh—maka bagimu takkan ada lagi rasa Tretā, Kṛta, ataupun Dvāpara.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extreme battlefield vengeance as a sign of moral disorientation: when violence reaches a terrifying pitch, the listener feels as if the ordered distinctions of the yugas (and their dharmic standards) no longer hold. It underscores how adharma-driven conflict can make society experience a collapse of ethical bearings.
Sañjaya, foretelling the war’s horrors, describes Bhīma’s ferocity—especially the vowed act of drinking Duḥśāsana’s blood—and compares him to a must-streaming, rampaging elephant that smashes the enemy’s elephant forces. The image is meant to overwhelm Dhṛtarāṣṭra (the implied listener) with the inevitability and dread of the coming carnage.