Shloka 8
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)
चेदिमत्स्यकरूषाश्न॒ भीमसेनपदानुगा:
sañjaya uvāca | cedimatsyakarūṣāś ca bhīmasenapadānugāḥ | samare niṣādānāṃ ca teṣāṃ rājñāṃś ca jaghnire | tataḥ senā-dvayor ghoraṃ yuddham āsīd bhayāvaham ||
サンジャヤは言った。「ビーマセーナの足跡を追って、チェーディ・マツヤ・カルーシャのクシャトリヤたちは戦場へ進み出て、ニシャーダ族とその諸王に襲いかかった。すると両軍の間に、きわめて凄惨で恐るべき戦闘が巻き起こった――勢いと忠誠に駆り立てられ、もはや自制の余地はほとんど残されていなかった。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how allegiance to a powerful leader and the momentum of battle can rapidly escalate violence. It implicitly raises an ethical tension central to the epic: Kṣatriya duty to fight versus the human cost when war becomes ‘ghora’ (dreadful) and ‘bhayāvaha’ (fear-producing).
Sañjaya reports that warriors from Cedi, Matsya, and Karūṣa, moving in step with Bhīma’s advance, attack the Niṣādas and their rulers on the battlefield. This triggers a fierce, terrifying clash between the opposing groups.