Shloka 90
हस्तिनश्ष हतारोहा दारिताड़ा: सहस्रश: । स्वान्यनीकानि मृद्नन्त आर्तनादा: प्रदुद्रुवु:,राजन! जिनके सवार मार डाले गये थे और समस्त अंग बाणोंसे विदीर्ण हो रहे थे, वे आपके योद्धाओंके वेगवान् और मदमत्त सहस्रों हाथी समरभूमिमें अपनी ही सेनाओंको रौंदते और आर्तनाद करते हुए जोर-जोरसे भागने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | hastinaś ca hatārohā dāritāṅgāḥ sahasraśaḥ | svāny anīkāni mṛdnanta ārtanādāḥ pradudruvuḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, thousands of your war-elephants—whose riders had been slain and whose bodies were torn and pierced by arrows—became frantic. Trumpeting in distress, they bolted across the battlefield, crushing even their own formations. The scene shows how, when discipline collapses under the pressure of violence, the instruments of war turn indiscriminate, harming friend and foe alike and multiplying suffering beyond intention.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical fallout of war: once fear and pain overwhelm control, even one’s own forces can become sources of harm. It underscores the fragility of order (niyama) in violence and how suffering spreads beyond deliberate targets.
After their riders are killed and their bodies are riddled with arrows, thousands of Kaurava war-elephants panic. They trumpet in anguish, flee the battlefield, and in their stampede trample their own battle-formations.