Shloka 53

Adhyāya 65: Dawn Assembly, Makara–Śyena Vyūhas, and Commander Engagements

Devanagari script

4000 (६ ५ २ है कं हि १% ४ के है शक / 8 | ४ ५ शी 2४ | प्रथा * ९१०७, ५ |, भीमसेनस्यथ मार्गेषु पतितान्‌ पर्वतोपमान्‌ | अपश्यं निहतान्‌ नागान्‌ राजन्‌ निष्ठीवतो5परान्‌,भीमसेनके मार्गोमें उनके द्वारा मारे गये पर्वतोपम हाथी पड़े दिखायी दिये। राजन! अन्य बहुत-से हाथियोंको मैंने मुँहसे फेन फेंकते देखा था

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | bhīmasenasya tu mārgeṣu patitān parvatopamān | apaśyaṁ nihatān nāgān rājan niṣṭhīvato 'parān ||

Translation

Sanjaya said: Along the paths where Bhimasena advanced, I saw elephants—huge as mountains—lying fallen, slain. And, O King, I also saw many other elephants, struck down, still spewing foam from their mouths—an image of the war’s brutal force and the terror it spreads among even the mightiest creatures.

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sanjaya said', 'bhīmasenasya': 'of Bhimasena', 'tu': 'indeed

• moreover', 'mārgeṣu': 'on the paths

• along the routes', 'patitān': 'fallen

• lying down (after being struck)', 'parvatopamān': 'comparable to mountains

• mountain-like', 'apaśyam': 'I saw', 'nihatān': 'slain

• killed', 'nāgān': 'elephants (lit. ‘nagas’

• here war-elephants)', 'rājan': 'O King', 'niṣṭhīvataḥ': 'spewing/spitting (foam)

• frothing at the mouth', 'aparān': 'others

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Bhimasena (Bhima)
• King Dhritarashtra
• war-elephants (nāgāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the devastating reality of war: even the strongest beings (war-elephants, ‘mountain-like’) are brought down. Implicitly it points to impermanence and the heavy moral cost that accompanies kṣatriya warfare, where prowess achieves victory but multiplies suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra what he ‘sees’ on the battlefield: Bhimasena’s advance leaves a trail of fallen, slain elephants, while other elephants nearby are dying in distress, foaming at the mouth—vivid testimony to Bhima’s destructive momentum in the fight.