Shloka 25
Kṛtavarmā–Sātyaki Chariot Duel and Kaurava Morale Shock (कृतवर्म-सात्यकि-द्वैरथम्)
स भिन्नकुम्भ: सहसा विनद्य मुखात् प्रभूतं क्षतजं विमुड्चन् । पपात नागो धरणीधराभ: क्षितिप्रकम्पाच्चलितो यथाद्रि:,गदाके आघातसे हाथीका कुम्भस्थल फट गया और वह पर्वतके समान विशालकाय गजराज सहसा चीत्कार करके मुँहसे रक्तवमन करता हुआ गिर पड़ा, मानो भूकम्प आनेसे कोई पहाड़ ढह गया हो
sa bhinnakumbhaḥ sahasā vinadya mukhāt prabhūtaṃ kṣatajaṃ vimuñcan | papāta nāgo dharaṇīdharābhaḥ kṣitiprakampāc calito yathādriḥ ||
Sañjaya disse: “Com a região das têmporas fendida, o elefante soltou de súbito um brado estrondoso; jorrando abundante sangue pela boca, aquele senhor dos elefantes, enorme como uma montanha, tombou ao chão—como um outeiro que desaba quando a terra treme num terremoto.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark impermanence of embodied power: even a ‘mountain-like’ war-elephant can be brought down in an instant. In the Mahābhārata’s war narrative, such images function as a moral reminder of the catastrophic cost of conflict and the fragility of pride, strength, and life amid adharma-driven violence.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield moment in which an elephant’s temple-region is shattered (likely by a heavy blow), after which it cries out, gushes blood from its mouth, and collapses. The fall is compared to a mountain sliding down when an earthquake shakes the earth, intensifying the sense of sudden, overwhelming destruction.