Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 5
महागजमिवारण्ये व्याधेन विनिपातितम् । विवर्तमानं बहुशो रुधिरौघपरिप्लुतम्
mahāgajam ivāraṇye vyādhena vinipātitam | vivartamānaṃ bahuśo rudhiraughapariplutam ||
सञ्जय उवाच—तत्र ददृशुर्धृतराष्ट्रस्य पुत्रं दुर्योधनं महागजमिवारण्ये व्याधेन विनिपातितम्। रुधिरौघपरिप्लुतः स पृथिव्यां निपतितो बहुशो विवर्तमानः छटपटायमानोऽभवत्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the stark moral cost of adharma-driven ambition: even the mightiest warrior-king can be reduced to helpless suffering. The elephant-and-hunter simile highlights how power and pride collapse under the consequences of violent conflict and accumulated wrongdoing.
Sañjaya reports what is seen on the battlefield: Duryodhana lies struck down, drenched in blood, repeatedly writhing and turning on the ground—described through the vivid comparison of a great forest elephant felled by a hunter.