Shloka 16
द्रौणि-पार्षतयोर्युद्धम् | The Duel of Aśvatthāmā
Drauṇi) and Dhṛṣṭadyumna (Pārṣata
संजय उवाच शृणु राजन् यथावृत्तं संग्रामं कर्णभीमयो: । परस्परवधप्रेप्स्वोर्वनकुज्जरयोरिव,संजयने कहा--राजन्! कर्ण और भीमसेनके युद्धका यथावत् वृत्तान्त सुनिये। वे दोनों जंगली हाथियोंके समान एक-दूसरेके वधके लिये उत्सुक थे
sañjaya uvāca śṛṇu rājan yathāvṛttaṃ saṅgrāmaṃ karṇabhīmayōḥ | parasparavadhaprepsvor vanakuñjarayor iva ||
Sañjaya said: O King, hear the battle between Karṇa and Bhīma exactly as it occurred. Like two wild elephants in the forest, each was intent on the other’s death—an image that underscores how the war’s fury can narrow warriors’ vision to mutual destruction, eclipsing restraint and broader dharmic considerations.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intense enmity in war can reduce combatants to a single-minded urge to kill, likened to wild elephants. Implicitly, it warns that such fixation can overshadow restraint and the wider demands of dharma, even when one is acting within a warrior’s battlefield role.
Sañjaya begins reporting to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra the detailed account of the duel-like battle between Karṇa and Bhīma, emphasizing that both fighters are fiercely eager to slay one another.