Shloka 27
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 114 — Karṇa–Bhīmasena Missile Exchange, Disarmament, and Arjuna’s Intervention
यांस्त्वेतानपरान् राजन् नागान् सप्त शतानिमान्,स्वलंकृतांस्तदा प्रेष्पानिच्छन् जीवितमात्मन: । “महाराज! जिन दूसरे इन सात सौ हाथियोंको आप देख रहे हैं, जो कवचसे आच्छादित हैं और जिनपर किरात योद्धा चढ़े हुए हैं, ये वे ही हाथी हैं, जिन्हें दिग्विजयके समय अपने प्राण बचानेकी इच्छा रखकर किरातराजने सव्यसाची अर्जुनको भेंट किया था। ये सजे-सजाये हाथी उन दिनों आपके सेवक थे
yāṁs tv etān aparān rājan nāgān sapta-śatān imān, svalankṛtāṁs tadā preṣyān icchan jīvitam ātmanaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “O King, these other seven hundred elephants that you see—well adorned and equipped—are the very ones that, in former days, the Kirāta king presented to Savyasācī Arjuna, seeking to preserve his own life. Now those same richly caparisoned elephants stand here as your attendants and resources in this war.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how political survival often drives acts of tribute: a defeated or threatened ruler may offer valuable resources to preserve life. It also underscores the moral ambiguity of war—assets gained through earlier submission or diplomacy can later be repurposed as instruments of violence.
Sañjaya identifies a contingent of seven hundred richly equipped elephants in the Kaurava forces and explains their origin: they were once gifted by a Kirāta king to Arjuna during a prior campaign, given as a life-saving tribute, and are now present as attendants/resources in the current conflict.