Shloka 41
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 29 — Arjuna’s defeat of Vṛṣaka–Acalā and the neutralization of Śakuni’s māyā
स समासाद्य तं नागं बाणो वज्ञ इवाचलम् | अभ्यगात् सह पुड्खेन वल्मीकमिव पन्नग:,वह नाराच उस हाथीके मस्तकपर पहुँचकर उसी प्रकार लगा, जैसे वज्र पर्वतपर चोट करता है। जैसे सर्प बाँबीमें समा जाता है, उसी प्रकार वह बाण हाथीके कुम्भस्थलमें पंखसहित घुस गया
sa samāsādya taṃ nāgaṃ bāṇo vajra ivācalam | abhyagāt saha puṅkhena valmīkam iva pannagaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The arrow, having reached that elephant—firm as a mountain—struck it like a thunderbolt smiting rock. Like a serpent slipping into an anthill, the shaft, feathers and all, sank into the elephant’s temples. The verse underscores the grim precision of warfare: strength and stature offer no refuge when violence is expertly directed, and the battlefield reduces even mighty beings to vulnerability.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the harsh reality of war: even the mightiest (an elephant ‘like a mountain’) can be swiftly undone by skilled, forceful violence. It implicitly cautions that power and size do not guarantee protection, and it frames battlefield success as a matter of precision and relentless force rather than moral merit.
An arrow reaches a war-elephant and penetrates its head/temple region with tremendous force. The poet uses two similes: the impact is like a thunderbolt striking a mountain, and the arrow’s entry is like a serpent disappearing into an anthill.