Shloka 54
Adhyāya 65: Dawn Assembly, Makara–Śyena Vyūhas, and Commander Engagements
वमन्तो रुधिरं चान्ये भिन्नकुम्भा महागजा: | विह्वलन्तो गता भूमिं शैला इव धरातले,कितने ही विशालकाय हाथी खून उगल रहे थे और उनके कुम्भस्थल फट गये थे। बहुत-से व्याकुल होकर इस भूतलपर पर्वतोंके समान पड़े थे
vamanto rudhiraṃ cānye bhinnakumbhā mahāgajāḥ | vihvalanto gatā bhūmiṃ śailā iva dharātale ||
ਸੰਜਯ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਕਈ ਮਹਾਂਹਾਥੀ, ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੇ ਕੁੰਭਸਥਲ ਫੱਟ ਗਏ ਸਨ, ਲਹੂ ਉਗਲ ਰਹੇ ਸਨ; ਪੀੜ੍ਹਾ ਨਾਲ ਡੋਲਦੇ ਹੋਏ ਉਹ ਧਰਤੀ ਉੱਤੇ ਇਉਂ ਡਿੱਗ ਪਏ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਪਹਾੜ ਜ਼ਮੀਨ ਤੇ ਢਹਿ ਪਏ ਹੋਣ।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the severe, indiscriminate suffering caused by war: even powerful war-elephants are broken and bleeding. It implicitly presses an ethical awareness of the human choices that unleash such devastation, a recurring Mahābhārata concern alongside discussions of kṣatriya-duty.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield aftermath: many elephants have their temple-globes ruptured, are spitting blood, and—overwhelmed and unsteady—collapse to the ground like mountains.