Shloka 17
धृतराष्ट्र-संजय-संवादः — सात्यकि-अलम्बुसयोर्युद्धवर्णनम्
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Saṃjaya Dialogue; Account of Sātyaki vs Alambusa
गजैश्न बहुधा छिन्नै: शयानै: पर्वतोपमै:
gajaiś ca bahudhā chinnaiḥ śayānaiḥ parvatopamaiḥ
Sañjaya said: And elephants—many of them cut down in various ways—lay strewn upon the ground, resembling mountains. The scene underscores how war reduces even the mightiest beings to lifeless heaps, revealing the terrible cost of violence and the fragility of worldly power.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral gravity of war: even the strongest creatures fall, reminding the listener of impermanence and the immense suffering produced by violence, which should temper pride and triumphalism.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield’s devastation, describing severed and fallen elephants lying about like mountains, emphasizing the scale and brutality of the fighting.