Shloka 513

Śālva’s Elephant Assault and the Counterstroke (शाल्वस्य नागारूढाभ्यवहारः)

Devanagari script

सम्भग्ना इव वातेन कर्णिकारा: सुपुष्पिता: । मारे गये पैदल सैनिक खूनसे लथपथ हो पृथ्वीपर सदाके लिये सो गये, मानो हवाके उखाड़े हुए सुन्दर लाल फूलोंसे भरे कनेरके वृक्ष पड़े हों

Transliteration

sambhagnā iva vātena karṇikārāḥ supuṣpitāḥ | māre gatā paidala-sainikāḥ khūna-se lathapatha ho pṛthvīpara sadā ke liye so gaye, māno havāke ukhāṛe hue sundara lāla phūloṃ se bhare kanerake vṛkṣa paṛe hoṃ |

Translation

Sañjaya berkata: Para askar berjalan kaki yang ditewaskan terbaring di bumi, bermandi darah, seolah-olah telah lena untuk selama-lamanya—bagaikan pohon karṇikāra yang sedang mekar penuh, dipatah dan dicabut angin, lalu bunga-bunga merahnya yang indah bertaburan. Gambaran ini menegaskan harga perang yang mengerikan: nyawa diputuskan seketika, keindahan dan daya hidup bertukar menjadi kesunyian, dan medan tempur menjadi saksi suram akan keganasan manusia serta ketidakkekalan.

Word by Word

• सम्भग्नाः: broken, shattered
• सम्भग्नाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्भग्न (√भञ्ज्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• इव: as if, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• वातेन: by the wind
• वातेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वात
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• कर्णिकाराः: karnikāra trees (a flowering tree)
• कर्णिकाराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्णिकार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सुपुष्पिताः: well-flowered, in full bloom
• सुपुष्पिताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुपुष्पित (सु+पुष्पित)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• infantry soldiers (paidala-sainikāḥ)
• earth (pṛthvī)
• wind (vāta)
• karṇikāra trees
• flowers (puṣpa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse conveys the ethical and existential weight of war: human lives, like flowering trees, can be cut down suddenly. The poetic simile intensifies compassion and highlights impermanence, warning that martial glory is inseparable from irreversible loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield aftermath: foot-soldiers have been killed and lie motionless on the ground, soaked in blood. Their fallen bodies are compared to wind-broken karṇikāra trees laden with red blossoms.