Shloka 36
Bhagadatta’s Advance, the Saṃśaptaka Challenge, and Arjuna’s Counterstrike (द्रोणपर्व, अध्याय २६)
तिर्यग्यातेन नागेन समदेनाशुगामिना । तत्पश्चात् दशार्णराजने मदस्रावी, शीघ्रगामी तथा तिरछी दिशा (पार्श्चभाग)-की ओरसे आक्रमण करनेवाले गजराजके द्वारा भगदत्तपर धावा किया ।। तयोरयुद्धं समभवन्नागयोर्भीमरूपयो:
tiryagyātena nāgena samadena āśugāminā | tatpaścāt daśārṇarājena madasrāvī śīghragāmī tathā tirachī-diśā (pārśvabhāga)-kī orase ākramaṇa karanevāle gajarājake dvārā bhagadattapara dhāvā kiyā || tayor yuddhaṃ samabhavan nāgayor bhīmarūpayoḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then the king of Daśārṇa charged at Bhagadatta with his lordly elephant—one that moved swiftly, surged with musth, and attacked from an oblique, sideward line. Thus began a fierce combat between the two elephants, both terrifying in form. In the moral atmosphere of the war, the verse highlights how mastery, momentum, and tactical approach can decide encounters as much as sheer strength—yet all such prowess remains bound to the tragic necessity of battle.
संजय उवाच