Shloka 183
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 114 — Karṇa–Bhīmasena Missile Exchange, Disarmament, and Arjuna’s Intervention
अन्यत्र हि वधादेषां नास्ति राजन् पराजय: । 'राजन्! ये हाथी मेघोंकी घटाके समान दिखायी देते हैं और पानी बरसानेवाले बादलोंके समान मदकी वर्षा करते हैं। हाथीसवारोंके हाँकनेपर ये कभी युद्धसे पीछे नहीं हटते हैं। महाराज! वधके अतिरिक्त और किसी उपायसे इनकी पराजय नहीं हो सकती
anyatra hi vadhād eṣāṁ nāsti rājan parājayaḥ |
Sañjaya said: O King, there is no way to defeat these warriors except by killing them. In the press of battle, their strength and resolve do not yield to intimidation or mere repulse; only their destruction can bring their defeat—an observation that underscores the grim, ethically fraught logic of war where victory is measured not by restraint but by annihilation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh calculus of battlefield reality: some forces cannot be neutralized by deterrence or retreat; only lethal force ends their threat. It implicitly raises the ethical tension of war—how victory can demand actions that are morally weighty, even when framed as necessity.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra about formidable opponents (contextually, a powerful contingent) and stresses that they will not be truly overcome by ordinary means; their defeat, he says, is possible only through their death.