Shloka 10
उद्यतां तां महाशक्ति तम्मिंक्षिक्षेप वारणे,उसने उस उठायी हुई महाशक्तिको उस हाथीपर ही चला दिया। राजन्! घटोत्कचकी भुजाओंसे छूटी हुई उस शक्तिके आघातसे हाथीका कुम्भस्थल फट गया और उससे रक्तका स्रोत बहने लगा। फिर वह तत्काल ही भूमिपर गिरा और मर गया
udyatāṃ tāṃ mahāśaktiṃ tam miṃkṣikṣepa vāraṇe | rājann ghaṭotkacabhujābhyāṃ chūtāyāḥ śaktyāḥ prahāreṇa hastinaḥ kumbhasthalaṃ phuṭaṃ tataś ca rudhirasrotaḥ prasasāra | sa ca tatkṣaṇād bhūmau papāta mṛtaś ca ||
Sanjaya said: Raising that mighty spear-weapon, he hurled it at the elephant. O King, struck by the force of that śakti released from Ghaṭotkaca’s arms, the elephant’s frontal globes split open and a stream of blood poured forth. It fell at once to the ground and died—an image of how, in war, even great strength and royal power collapse instantly when met by a superior, divinely charged missile.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal immediacy of war: worldly might—symbolized by a war-elephant—can be undone in an instant by a superior weapon and resolve. It also reflects the epic’s ethical tension: even when fighting is framed as kṣatriya-duty, the narrative does not romanticize violence; it shows its stark, irreversible consequences.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a mighty śakti-weapon, released from Ghaṭotkaca’s arms, strikes an elephant. The elephant’s temples (kumbhasthala) burst, blood flows, and it collapses and dies immediately.