Shloka 73
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
प्रवणादिव शैलानां शिखराणि द्विपोत्तमा:,विप्रविद्धायुधाड़ श्र द्विरदाश्चरथै्हता:
pravaṇād iva śailānāṃ śikharāṇi dvipottamāḥ, vipraviddhāyudhāś ca dviradāś ca rathair hatāḥ
Sañjaya said: “As mountain-peaks tumble down from a steep slope, so did the finest elephants fall—some struck down by weapons hurled with force, and others slain by chariots in the press of battle.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the devastating momentum of war: even the mightiest forces (elephants) collapse swiftly, like peaks sliding from a slope—highlighting the fragility of power and the heavy cost of martial conflict.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where elite war-elephants are being brought down—some by forcefully hurled weapons and others by chariot-warriors—using a vivid simile of mountain summits falling.