Shloka 5
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
नागान् नागा: समासाद्य व्यधमन्त परस्परम् । हया हयांश्व॒ समरे रथिनो रथिनस्तथा,नागाश्च समरे उयड़ं ममृदु: शीघ्रगा नृप । हाथी हाथियोंसे भिड़कर एक-दूसरेको संताप देने लगे। उस समरांगणमें घोड़े घोड़ों, रथी रथियों एवं पैदल पैदलसमूहों, अश्वसमुदायों तथा रथों और हाथियोंका भी मर्दन कर रहे थे। नरेश्वर! इसी प्रकार रथी हाथी और घोड़ोंका तथा शीघ्रगामी हाथी उस युद्धस्थलमें हाथी सेनाके अन्य तीन अंगोंको रौंदने लगे
sañjaya uvāca | nāgān nāgāḥ samāsādya vyadhamanta parasparam | hayā hayaṃś ca samare rathino rathinas tathā | nāgāś ca samare yuddhaṃ mamṛduḥ śīghragā nṛpa |
Sañjaya said: Elephants, closing upon elephants, struck one another and caused mutual torment. In that battlefield, horses pressed against horses, and chariot-warriors against chariot-warriors; and the swift-moving elephants, O king, trampled and crushed the opposing forces in the melee. Thus, amid the confusion of war, each arm of the host collided with its counterpart, and the great beasts, driven by speed and fury, bore down upon the other divisions as well.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily functions as vivid battlefield reportage rather than moral instruction: it underscores how war collapses order into mutual harm, where even the organized ‘fourfold army’ (elephants, chariots, cavalry, infantry) becomes a scene of indiscriminate crushing and reciprocal suffering.
Sañjaya describes the clash of the opposing armies: elephants collide with elephants, horses with horses, and chariot-fighters with chariot-fighters, while swift elephants trample and crush troops amid the tumult of the fight.