Shloka 39
Chapter 51: Saṃdhyākāla-saṃhāra
Evening Withdrawal after Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
तया भिजन्नतनुत्राण: प्रविश्य विपुलं तम: । स पपात गजस्कन्धात् प्रमुक्ताड़कुशतोमर:,उस शक्तिने उनके कवचको काट दिया। उसकी चोटसे उनपर अत्यन्त मोह छा गया। उनके हाथसे अंकुश और तोमर छूटकर गिर गये और वे भी अचेत होकर हाथीकी पीठसे पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े
tayā bhijann atanutrāṇaḥ praviśya vipulaṃ tamaḥ | sa papāta gajaskandhāt pramuktāṅkuśatomaraḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。「その武器により鎧は貫かれ、彼は迷妄の大いなる闇へ沈んだ。象鉤と投槍は手から滑り落ち、意識を失って象の背から地へと落下した。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the chaos of war, the decisive loss is often the loss of consciousness and discernment (tamaḥ). Even strength, weapons, and armour become useless when the mind is overwhelmed—an ethical reminder of war’s dehumanizing force and the fragility of embodied power.
A warrior riding an elephant is struck so that his armour is pierced; he is overcome by darkness/delusion, drops his elephant-goad and javelin, and then falls unconscious from the elephant’s back to the ground, as Sañjaya reports the battlefield events.