Shloka 44
कर्णस्य दानप्रतिज्ञा–शल्योपदेश–वाक्ययुद्धम्
Karna’s Gift-Vows, Shalya’s Counsel, and the Battle of Words
उन्मत्तगज्जप्रतिमं शब्देनापूरयज्जगत् । इस प्रकार अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंसे परिपूर्ण यह महाभयानक युद्ध बढ़ी हुई गंगाके समान जगत्को कोलाहलसे परिपूर्ण कर रहा था ।।
unmattagajja-pratimaṁ śabdenāpūrayaj jagat | naiva sve na pare rājan vijñāyante śarāturāḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Bagaikan gajah mengamuk, ia memenuhi dunia dengan deruannya. Wahai Raja, dalam pertempuran yang amat menggerunkan itu—padat dengan peluru dan senjata, mengganas seperti Sungai Gaṅgā yang meluap—hingar-bingar menenggelamkan segala-galanya; mereka yang ditimpa anak panah tidak lagi dapat dibezakan sama ada ‘pihak kita’ atau ‘pihak musuh’.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extreme violence and confusion in war can erase moral and social distinctions—friend and foe become indistinguishable—underscoring the ethical cost of uncontrolled conflict and the suffering it produces.
Sañjaya reports to the king that the battlefield has become terrifyingly loud and chaotic, likened to a raging elephant and a flooded Gaṅgā; amid the arrow-stricken fighters, neither side can clearly recognize their own men versus the enemy.