Mahabharata 7.189.213 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 189, Shloka 213
कुलसत्त्ववलोपेता वाजिनो वारणोपमा: । रथोंके पहिये रक्तकी कीचमें डूब जाते थे
kulasattvabalopetā vājinō vāraṇopamāḥ | rathānāṃ cakrāṇi raktapaṅke nimagnāni santi, tathāpi te bāṇapīḍitāḥ kampamānāḥ pariśramāt klāntāś ca aśvāḥ kathaṃcid dhairyam ālambya tān rathān vahanti | te sarve aśvāḥ uttamakulajāḥ sāhasabalasampannāś ca gajopamā mahākāyāḥ |
サञ्जयは言った。「その馬たちは、名門の血を引き、勇気と力に満ち、象のように巨体であった。戦車の車輪が血の泥に沈み込んでも、なお戦車を引き続けた。矢に苦しめられ、震え、労苦で疲れ果てながらも、どうにか踏みとどまり、決意を保って、その重荷を前へと運んだ。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfast endurance (dhairya) amid extreme adversity, while also implicitly exposing the ethical cost of war: suffering extends beyond combatants to animals and the environment, making the battlefield a place of shared pain rather than glory alone.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield where chariot wheels sink into a mire of blood; despite being wounded by arrows and exhausted, the massive war-horses continue to pull the chariots through sheer fortitude.
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