Shloka 11
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
अच्छी तरह शिक्षा पाये हुए कितने ही हाथी तथा श्रेष्ठ गज
sañjaya uvāca—susaṃskṛtā bahavo hastinaś ca śreṣṭhā gajāś ca, yeṣāṃ gaṇḍasthalebhyo madaḥ sravati sma, te ṛṣṭi-tomara-nārācair viddhāḥ, marma-vidīrṇatvāc cighghāṭantaḥ prāṇaśūnyā bhūmau nipetūḥ; kecid bhayānaka-cītkāraṃ kurvāṇāḥ sarvā diśo vidudruvuḥ.
サンジャヤは言った。「よく訓練された多くの象、またこめかみからイコール（発情の液）を滴らせる名高い牙象たちは、槍（ṛṣṭi）、投槍（tomara）、鉄の矢（nārāca）に射貫かれた。急所を裂かれ、苦痛に吠えながら息絶えて大地に倒れる者もいれば、恐ろしい叫び声を上げて四方へ恐慌のうちに逃げ散る者もいた。この光景は戦の道義的代償を示す――戦のために鍛えられた最強の獣でさえ、暴力が自制を呑み込み、義務が屠殺へと崩れ落ちるとき、無力な犠牲となるのだ。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grievous consequences of warfare: strength, training, and nobility cannot protect beings from the indiscriminate destruction of battle. It implicitly invites ethical reflection on the cost of conflict and the suffering inflicted on even non-human participants compelled into war.
Sanjaya describes the battlefield where many musth elephants are pierced by spears, javelins, and iron arrows. With their vital points torn, they trumpet, collapse dead, and some flee in terror in all directions, conveying chaos and devastation among the war-elephants.