Shloka 5563
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 95 — Sātyaki’s Breakthrough and the Routing of Allied Contingents
प्रभिन्न इव मातज्रो मृदूनन् नलवनं यथा । जैसे मदकी धारा बहानेवाला मतवाला हाथी नरकुलके जंगलोंको रौंदता चलता है, उसी प्रकार अर्जुन घोड़े, रथ और हाथियोंसहित सम्पूर्ण शत्रुओंका संहार करते हुए रणभूमिमें विचर रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca | prabhinna iva mātajñaḥ mṛdūnan nalavanaṃ yathā |
प्रभिन्न इव मातङ्गो मदस्रावसमन्वितः। मृदून् नलवनं यद्वत् सम्प्रधर्षन्, तथार्जुनो रणभूमौ विचचार; अश्वै रथैश्च गजैश्च सह शत्रून् समन्ततः संहरन्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying effectiveness of martial power in a dharma-war: a warrior may act with sanctioned duty, yet the scale of destruction remains ethically weighty. It invites reflection on how dharma can demand fierce action while still acknowledging the human cost.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna moving through the battlefield and annihilating enemy forces—horses, chariots, and elephants—using a vivid simile of a rut-maddened elephant trampling a reed forest.