Shloka 18
शरशतक्त्यर्दिता: क्लान्ता रात्रिमूढाल्पचेतस: । विष्टभ्य सर्वगात्राणि व्यतिष्ठन् गजवाजिन:,रात्रिके युद्धसे मोहित, अल्प चेतनावाले, बाणों और शक्तियोंसे पीड़ित तथा थके-माँदे हाथी एवं घोड़े आदि वाहन अपने सारे अंगोंको स्तब्ध करके वहाँ खड़े थे
śaraśataktī-arditāḥ klāntā rātrimūḍhālpacetasaḥ | viṣṭabhya sarvagātrāṇi vyatiṣṭhan gajavājinaḥ ||
サンジャヤは言った。「幾百の矢と投槍に打たれ、疲れ果て、夜戦に惑わされて感覚も鈍り、象と馬は全身の肢を踏ん張ってこわばらせ、その場に立ち尽くしていた。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the dehumanizing and indiscriminate nature of warfare: in the confusion of night, even mighty war-animals become stunned and immobilized by pain and exhaustion. It implicitly raises an ethical awareness about the suffering inflicted on all beings in battle and the heightened moral peril of fighting in darkness.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield at night: elephants and horses, wounded by volleys of arrows and javelins, are exhausted and mentally dazed. They brace their bodies and stand motionless, conveying a moment of grim stillness amid nocturnal combat.