Shloka 59
अयुतं दन्तिनां सार्थ कृपस्थ निजघान सः । पज्चायुतानि चाश्वानां शकुनेर्निजघान ह,तदनन्तर कृपाचार्यकी सेनाके पंद्रह हजार हाथियोंका वध कर डाला; इसी तरह शकुनिके पचास हजार घोड़ोंको भी उन्होंने मार गिराया
ayutaṃ dantināṃ sārthaṃ kṛpastha nijaghāna saḥ | pañcāyutāni cāśvānāṃ śakuner nijaghāna ha ||
Sañjaya said: Stationed with Kṛpa’s division, he cut down a full ten thousand elephants in a single mass. Thereafter, he also slew fifty thousand horses belonging to Śakuni. The verse underscores the grim arithmetic of war—where prowess is measured in slaughter—while implicitly inviting reflection on the ethical cost of such victory in a dharma-yuddha that has slid into ruthless annihilation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war reduces living beings to numbers and tallies of destruction; within the Mahābhārata’s dharma framework, such scenes function as a moral mirror—valor and success are shown alongside the heavy ethical burden and the erosion of restraint in a conflict that claims to be righteous.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield feat: a warrior positioned with Kṛpa’s forces slaughters ten thousand elephants, and then kills fifty thousand horses belonging to Śakuni’s side, emphasizing the scale and ferocity of the fighting.