Shloka 11
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४१: कर्ण–कृष्णसंवादः, उत्पात-स्वप्न-लक्षणानि
Karna–Krishna Dialogue: Omens and Dream-Signs
प्रभिन्नमिव मातड़ुं प्रतिद्विरदघातिनम् । न तदा भविता त्रेता न कृतं द्वापरं न च
sañjaya uvāca | prabhinnam iva mātaṅgaṁ pratidviradaghātinam | na tadā bhavitā tretā na kṛtaṁ dvāparaṁ na ca ||
प्रभिन्नमिव मातङ्गं प्रतिद्विरदघातिनम् । न तदा भविता त्रेता न कृतं द्वापरं न च ॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extreme battlefield vengeance as a sign of moral disorientation: when violence reaches a terrifying pitch, the listener feels as if the ordered distinctions of the yugas (and their dharmic standards) no longer hold. It underscores how adharma-driven conflict can make society experience a collapse of ethical bearings.
Sañjaya, foretelling the war’s horrors, describes Bhīma’s ferocity—especially the vowed act of drinking Duḥśāsana’s blood—and compares him to a must-streaming, rampaging elephant that smashes the enemy’s elephant forces. The image is meant to overwhelm Dhṛtarāṣṭra (the implied listener) with the inevitability and dread of the coming carnage.