Shloka 12

Devanagari script

पर्यस्तानीव शृुड्राणि ससत्त्वानि महागिरे: । धनंजयशराभ्यस्तै: स्तीर्णा भूर्वरवारणै:

Transliteration

paryastānīva śṛṅgāṇi sasattvāni mahāgireḥ | dhanañjayaśarābhyastaiḥ stīrṇā bhūr varavāraṇaiḥ ||

Translation

சஞ்சயன் கூறினான்— போர்க்களம், உயிர்களுடன் கூடிய ஒரு மாபெரும் மலையின் சிகரங்கள் புரண்டு வீழ்ந்ததுபோல் தோன்றியது. தனஞ்சயன் (அர்ஜுனன்) அம்புகளால் தாக்கப்பட்ட உயர்ந்த யானைகளால் பூமி எங்கும் பரவிக் கிடந்தது.

Word by Word

पर्यस्तानिoverturned, thrown down

इवas if, like

शृङ्गाणिhorns, peaks

ससत्त्वानिwith living beings/creatures

महागिरेःof the great mountain

धनंजय-शर-अभ्यस्तैःstruck/assailed by Arjuna's arrows

स्तीर्णाstrewn, covered

भूःthe earth, ground

वर-वारणैःby excellent elephants

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

स

संजय (Sañjaya)

ध

धनंजय / अर्जुन (Dhanañjaya / Arjuna)

म

महागिरि (great mountain)

श

शर (arrows)

व

वरवाराṇ (noble elephants)

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?

The verse uses a stark simile to highlight the immense cost of war: even the strongest and most majestic beings fall when violence is unleashed. It invites ethical reflection on how martial excellence, though celebrated, also produces widespread suffering and irreversible loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene after Arjuna’s assault: the ground is covered with fallen elephants, struck by Arjuna’s arrows, appearing like mountain-peaks toppled down—an image conveying both scale and devastation.