Shloka 31

भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception

Devanagari script

तथैव च रथान्‌ राजन्‌ प्रममर्द रणे गज: । रथाश्वैव समासाद्य पतितांस्तुरगान्‌ भुवि,राजन! इसी प्रकार उस रणक्षेत्रमें एक हाथी बहुत-से रथोंको रौंद डालता था और रथ पृथ्वीपर पड़े हुए घोड़ोंको कुचलकर भागते जाते थे

Transliteration

tathaiva ca rathān rājan pramamarda raṇe gajaḥ | rathāś caiva samāsādya patitāṁs turagān bhuvi ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “So too, O King, in that battle an elephant crushed many chariots; and the chariots, rushing on, trampled the horses that had fallen upon the ground.” The scene underscores the blind momentum of war, where even noble instruments of combat become agents of indiscriminate destruction amid the collapse of order.

Word by Word

• {'tathaiva': 'in the same way

• likewise', 'ca': 'and', 'rathān': 'chariots (accusative plural of ratha)', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative

• address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'pramamarda': 'crushed, trampled, smashed (perfect/preterite of pra-√mṛd)', 'raṇe': 'in battle, in the battlefield (locative of raṇa)', 'gajaḥ': 'elephant (nominative singular)', 'rathāḥ': 'chariots (nominative plural)', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatic particle', 'samāsādya': 'having reached/encountered

• coming upon (absolutive of sam-ā-√sad)', 'patitān': 'fallen (accusative plural of patita)', 'turagān': 'horses (accusative plural of turaga)', 'bhuvi': 'on the earth/ground (locative of bhū)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by rājan)
• elephant (gaja)
• chariots (ratha)
• horses (turaga)
• battlefield (raṇa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse offers a stark ethical reminder of war’s indiscriminate momentum: once violence is unleashed, even valued forces (elephants, chariots, horses) become entangled in mutual destruction, and compassion or restraint is easily overridden by the press of battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield where an elephant is crushing chariots, while chariots, charging forward, run over horses already fallen on the ground—an image of confusion and relentless movement amid the Kurukṣetra fighting.