Shloka 51
Bhūriśravas–Sātyaki Saṃvāda and Duel; Arjuna’s Intervention (भूरिश्रवाः–सात्यकि संवादः, युद्धम्, अर्जुन-हस्तक्षेपः)
तौ बाहू परिघप्रख्यौ पेततुर्गजसत्तमात्
tau bāhū parighaprakhyau petatur gajasattamāt
Sañjaya said: Those two arms, like iron clubs in their might, fell down from the best of elephants—signaling the violent undoing of a warrior’s power amid the ruthless momentum of battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of martial power: even arms famed for strength can be severed or rendered helpless in war, reminding readers of the impermanence of bodily might and the grave cost of violence.
In Sañjaya’s battlefield report, a warrior’s two powerful arms—likened to heavy iron clubs—drop from an excellent elephant mount, indicating a brutal strike and the sudden collapse of that combatant’s fighting capacity.