Shloka 61

Devanagari script

सुसंनिकृष्टे संग्रामे भूयिष्ठे त्यक्तजीविता: । उस समय उस निकटवर्ती महायुद्धमें प्राणोंका मोह छोड़कर जूझनेवाले पाण्डवसेनाके रक्तरंजित घुड़सवार इस प्रकार बोले-- ।। ६० ई ।। नहि शक्यं रथैर्योद्धुं कुत एवं महागजै:

Transliteration

su-saṃnikṛṣṭe saṅgrāme bhūyiṣṭhe tyakta-jīvitāḥ | na hi śakyaṃ rathair yoddhuṃ kuta eva mahā-gajaiḥ ||

Translation

ਜਦੋਂ ਜੰਗ ਬਹੁਤ ਨੇੜੇ ਆ ਕੇ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਘੋਰ ਹੋ ਗਈ, ਤਦੋਂ ਜਾਨ ਦੀ ਮਮਤਾ ਤਿਆਗ ਚੁੱਕੇ ਪਾਂਡਵ-ਸੈਨਾ ਦੇ ਲਹੂ ਨਾਲ ਰੰਗੇ ਘੁੜਸਵਾਰ ਬੋਲੇ— “ਇੱਥੇ ਰਥਾਂ ਨਾਲ ਵੀ ਲੜਾਈ ਨਹੀਂ ਹੋ ਸਕਦੀ; ਫਿਰ ਵੱਡੇ ਹਾਥੀਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਤਾਂ ਕਿਵੇਂ?”

Word by Word

सुसंनिकृष्टेin very close (quarters)

संग्रामेin battle

भूयिष्ठेin the most intense (one)

त्यक्तजीविताःhaving abandoned (care for) life; ready to die

नहिindeed not

शक्यम्possible

रथैःwith chariots

योद्धुम्to fight

कुतःhow much less; whence (in the sense 'how then')

एवम्thus; in this way

महागजैःwith great elephants

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

र

रथ (chariots)

म

महागज (great elephants)

स

संग्राम (battlefield)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

In extreme close-quarters combat, ethical resolve (fearlessness and readiness to risk life) must be matched with practical discernment: certain weapons and formations—chariots and elephants—become ineffective or even harmful when the battlefield is too congested.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that as the fighting compresses into a tight melee, the combatants observe that the press of battle makes maneuvering impossible; they state that chariots cannot be used effectively, and therefore large elephants are even less workable in that situation.