Shloka 27
Nakula’s Engagement with Citra-sena and Karṇa’s Sons; Śalya Re-stabilizes the Kaurava Host
ते गजा घनसंकाशा: पेतुरुव्या समन्ततः । वज़नुन्ना इव बभु: पर्वता युगसंक्षये
te gajā ghanasaṅkāśāḥ petur uvyā samantataḥ | vajranunnā iva babhūḥ parvatā yugasaṅkṣaye ||
Sañjaya berkata: Gajah-gajah itu, gelap dan besar laksana awan ribut, rebah di bumi di segenap penjuru. Seolah-olah dipalu vajra Indra, mereka tampak seperti gunung runtuh pada penghujung suatu zaman.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence and the leveling force of violence: even the strongest (war-elephants) fall, and the battlefield turns grandeur into ruin. The cosmic simile (mountains collapsing at yuga’s end) frames war as a near-apocalyptic moral warning against arrogance and the intoxication of power.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that elephants on the battlefield are being struck down and collapsing everywhere. Their fall is compared to mountains shattered by a thunderbolt, evoking the scale and terror of the ongoing combat in the Śalya Parva.