Shloka 15

Devanagari script

ते हेमपुड्खैरिषुभिरददिता हेममालिन: । हताः पेतुर्महानागा: साग्निज्वाला इवाद्रय:,सोनेके पंखवाले बाणोंसे पीड़ित हुए वे सुवर्ण-मालाधारी बड़े-बड़े गजराज मारे जाकर आगकी ज्वालाओंसे युक्त पर्वतोंके समान धरतीपर गिर पड़े

Transliteration

te hemapuḍkhair iṣubhir adaditā hemamālinaḥ | hatāḥ petur mahānāgāḥ sāgnijvālā ivādrayaḥ ||

Translation

സ്വർണ്ണപുഞ്ചങ്ങളുള്ള അമ്പുകളാൽ പീഡിതരായ ആ സ്വർണ്ണമാലാധാരികളായ മഹാഗജരാജന്മാർ ഹതരായി, അഗ്നിജ്വാലകളാൽ ചുറ്റപ്പെട്ട പർവ്വതങ്ങളെപ്പോലെ ഭൂമിയിൽ വീണു.

Word by Word

तेthose

हेमपुड्खैःwith gold-feathered (shafts)

इषुभिःby arrows

अर्दिताःtormented/afflicted

हेममालिनःwearing garlands of gold

हताःslain

पेतुःfell down

महानागाःgreat elephants

सwith

अग्निज्वालाःflames of fire

इवlike/as

अद्रयःmountains

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mahānāgāḥ (war-elephants)

gold-adorned arrows (hemapuḍkhāḥ iṣavaḥ)

mountains (adrayaḥ)

fire/flames (agni-jvālā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tragic irony of war: even the most magnificent and powerful beings—elephant-lords adorned with gold—are reduced to lifeless ruin. It implicitly warns that worldly splendor and strength are fragile when driven into adharma-filled violence, and that battle consumes both beauty and life.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes a battlefield scene where great elephants, ornamented with gold, are struck and tormented by gold-adorned arrows. They are killed and collapse to the ground, compared poetically to mountains blazing with fire.