Shloka 10
वज्रदत्तेन सह अर्जुनयुद्धम्
Arjuna’s engagement with Vajradatta during the Aśvamedha circuit
विक्षरन्तं महामेघं परवारणवारणम् । शास्त्रवत् कल्पितं संख्ये विवशं युद्धदुर्मदम्,वह महान् मेघके समान मदकी वर्षा करता था। शत्रुपक्षके हाथियोंको रोकनेमें समर्थ था। उसे शास्त्रीय विधिके अनुसार युद्धके लिये तैयार किया गया था। वह स्वामीके अधीन रहनेवाला और युद्धमें दुर्धर्ष था
vikṣarantaṁ mahāmeghaṁ paravāraṇavāraṇam | śāstravat kalpitaṁ saṅkhye vivaśaṁ yuddhadurmadam |
Vaiśampāyana said: “It was like a great cloud pouring forth, an elephant capable of checking the enemy’s elephants. Prepared for battle according to the prescriptions of the treatises, it was fully under its master’s control, yet in the fury of war it was formidable and hard to withstand.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in warfare, power is ideally governed by śāstra and discipline: the elephant’s might is immense and fearsome, yet it is portrayed as properly trained and obedient—suggesting that force, to be dharmically acceptable, must be regulated rather than reckless.
The narrator describes a war-elephant: it is compared to a rain-bearing cloud for its overwhelming, ‘pouring’ force; it can hold back the enemy’s elephants; it has been prepared according to prescribed military methods; and it is both controllable by its master and terrifying in combat.