Shloka 65
Duryodhana’s Śaraṇāgati and the Pāṇḍavas’ Resolve
Gandharva Encounter
निकृत्तयोधनागाश्चं कृत्तायुधमहारथम्
nikṛttayodhanāgāś ca kṛttāyudhamahāratham
आणि असे युद्धहत्तीही होते की ज्यांचे आरूढ योद्धे कापून टाकले गेले होते; तसेच असा एक महारथीही होता की ज्याची शस्त्रे छिन्नभिन्न झाली होती।
मार्कण्डेय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the devastating reversals of war: even mighty forces—war-elephants and elite chariot-warriors—can be rendered powerless. It supports the epic’s ethical reflection that violence brings ruin and that martial glory is unstable and costly.
Mārkaṇḍeya is describing a battlefield scene: elephants stand with their fighters slain, and a foremost chariot-warrior is left with weapons cut away—an image of defeat and the brutal aftermath of combat.