Shloka 25
Bhūriśravas–Sātyaki Saṃvāda and Duel; Arjuna’s Intervention (भूरिश्रवाः–सात्यकि संवादः, युद्धम्, अर्जुन-हस्तक्षेपः)
शिनिवंशके वीर सात्यकिद्वारा चलाये हुए वज् और बिजलीके समान स्पर्शवाले उन बाणोंकी मार खाकर उस सेनाके हाथी युद्धका मैदान छोड़कर भागने लगे ।। 0०७ आ कं ० शीर्णदन्ता विरुधिरा भिन्नमस्तकपिण्डिका: । विशीर्णकर्णास्यकरा विनियन्तृपताकिन:,उन हाथियोंके दाँत टूट गये, सारे अंगोंसे खूनकी धाराएँ बहने लगीं, कुम्भस्थल और गण्डस्थल फट गये, कान, मुख और शुण्ड छिलन्न-भिन्न हो गये, महावत मारे गये और ध्वजा- पताकाएँ टूटकर गिर गयीं। उनके मर्मस्थल विदीर्ण हो गये, घंटे टूट गये और विशाल ध्वज कटकर गिर पड़े। सवार मारे गये तथा झूल खिसककर गिर गये थे। राजन्! ऐसी अवस्थामें उन हाथियोंने भागकर विभिन्न दिशाओंकी शरण ली थी
sañjaya uvāca | śinivaṃśake vīra sātyakidvārā calāyitair vajravidyut-sparśair bāṇair abhihatasya tasyāḥ senāyā hastino raṇabhūmiṃ tyaktvā palāyanta || kṣīrṇadantā virudhirā bhinnamastakapīṇḍikāḥ | viśīrṇakarṇāsyakarā viniyantṛpatākināḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Struck by the arrows loosed by the hero Sātyaki of the Śini line—arrows whose touch was like thunderbolt and lightning—the elephants of that host abandoned the battlefield and fled. Their tusks were shattered; streams of blood ran from their limbs; their temples and frontal globes were split; ears, mouths, and trunks were torn and mangled. Their drivers were slain and their banners and pennants fell. Vital spots were pierced, bells were broken, great standards were cut down; riders were killed and the howdahs slipped and dropped. In that condition, O King, the elephants ran off and sought refuge in different directions—showing how, in war, even the mightiest bodies collapse when violence overwhelms restraint and order.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal cost of war: even the strongest instruments of battle—war-elephants with banners, bells, and riders—collapse into panic when struck and disordered. It implicitly warns that power without restraint is fragile, and that violence rapidly destroys the very structures (command, control, morale) that sustain an army.
Sañjaya reports to the king that Sātyaki’s fierce volley of arrows, compared to thunderbolt and lightning, devastates the enemy elephants. With tusks broken, bodies bleeding, heads and trunks torn, drivers and riders killed, and standards falling, the elephants abandon the battlefield and scatter in flight in different directions.