Shloka 163
संछिन्ना नेमिभिश्रैव मृदिताश्न हयद्विपैः । कुछ लोगोंके अस्त्र-शस्त्र और कवच कट गये और वे अपने वाहनोंसे पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े। उस दशामें रथके पहियोंकी नेमिसे दबकर उनके शरीरके टुकड़े-टुकड़े हो गये और कितने ही घोड़ों तथा हाथियोंसे कुचल गये
saṃchinnā nemibhiś caiva mṛditāś ca hayadvipaiḥ |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Many were cut down by the very rims of chariot-wheels, and many were crushed beneath horses and elephants. Their weapons and armour were shattered; hurled from their mounts and vehicles onto the earth, they were pressed and broken into pieces—an image of war’s pitiless momentum, where strength and pride alike are reduced to ruin.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal, indiscriminate nature of war: once violence is unleashed, even the instruments of power—chariots, horses, elephants—become forces that pulverize human bodies. It implicitly warns that martial glory is inseparable from immense suffering and the rapid collapse of worldly pride.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes the battlefield aftermath: warriors fall from their vehicles, their armour and weapons broken; some are sliced by chariot-wheel rims, while others are trampled and crushed by horses and elephants amid the chaos of combat.