Shloka 22
Adhyāya 17 — गजयुद्ध-वृत्तान्तः, सहदेव-दुःशासन-संघर्षः, नकुल-कर्ण-समागमः
Elephant-battle account; Sahadeva–Duhshasana clash; Nakula–Karna encounter
गजा रथाश्वाः पुरुषाश्व संघश: परस्परघ्ना: परिपेतुराहवे । परस्परं प्रस्खलिता: समाहिता भृशं निपेतुर्बहुभाषिणों हता:,झुंड-के-झुंड हाथी, रथ, घोड़े और पैदल मनुष्य परस्पर आघात-प्रत्याघात करते हुए युद्धस्थलमें चारों ओरसे टूट पड़े थे। वे आपसमें एक-दूसरेकी चोटसे अत्यन्त घायल हो लड़खड़ाते और बहुत बकझक करते हुए मरकर गिर जाते थे
gajā rathāśvāḥ puruṣāś ca saṅghaśaḥ parasparaghnāḥ paripetur āhave | parasparaṃ praskhalitāḥ samāhitā bhṛśaṃ nipetur bahubhāṣiṇo hatāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In the battle, elephants, chariots, horses, and masses of foot-soldiers surged about, striking and counterstriking one another. Wounded grievously by each other’s blows, they reeled and stumbled; and, amid loud and many cries, the slain fell down in heaps—an image of war’s blind mutual destruction and the collapse of restraint when violence becomes its own momentum.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the self-propagating nature of violence in war: when combatants are locked in mutual aggression (paraspara), order and restraint collapse, leading to indiscriminate suffering and death. Ethically, it functions as a stark reminder of war’s cost and the ease with which human speech and emotion turn into clamour amid destruction.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at a peak of confusion: elephants, chariots, horses, and infantry surge in masses, striking one another. Many are grievously wounded, stumble, shout, and then fall dead—portraying a chaotic melee rather than orderly duels.