Shloka 463

Devanagari script

मत्ताविव महानागौ चकृषाते पुन: पुनः । वे मदस्रावी मतवाले गजराजोंके समान अपने अंगोंसे रुधिरकी धारा बहाते हुए एक- दूसरेसे भिड़कर बारंबार खींचातानी करने लगे

Transliteration

mattāv iva mahānāgau cakṛṣāte punaḥ punaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Like two great elephants gone mad with rut, the two warriors grappled again and again, each striving to drag the other down. Their bodies, streaming with blood, showed how fury and pride can turn valor into a brutal contest of domination, where the battlefield’s ethic is endurance and resolve rather than mercy.

Word by Word

• मत्तौ: two intoxicated (ones)
• मत्तौ: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मत्त
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• इव: like/as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• महानागौ: two great elephants
• महानागौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महानाग
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

• चकृषाते: they two drag/pull
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृष्
• Form: Present, Third, Dual, Atmanepada

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

• पुनः: again
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुनः

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• two combatants (unnamed in this pāda)
• great elephants (simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how, in war, unchecked rage and pride can make even great heroes resemble rut-maddened elephants—powerful yet driven by impulse—suggesting the ethical tension between kṣatriya valor and the dehumanizing force of fury.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a close-quarters struggle: two fighters repeatedly grapple and try to drag one another, likened to two massive musth elephants locked in a contest, with blood flowing from their bodies.