Shloka 15
ते हेमपुड्खैरिषुभिरददिता हेममालिन: । हताः पेतुर्महानागा: साग्निज्वाला इवाद्रय:
te hemapuḍkhair iṣubhir adaditā hemamālinaḥ | hatāḥ petur mahānāgāḥ sāgnijvālā ivādrayaḥ ||
బంగారు పుంఖములు గల బాణములతో బాధింపబడిన ఆ స్వర్ణమాలాధారులైన మహాగజరాజులు హతులై, అగ్నిజ్వాలలతో చుట్టబడిన పర్వతాలవలె భూమిపై కూలిపోయిరి.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tragic irony of war: even the most magnificent and powerful beings—elephant-lords adorned with gold—are reduced to lifeless ruin. It implicitly warns that worldly splendor and strength are fragile when driven into adharma-filled violence, and that battle consumes both beauty and life.
Sañjaya describes a battlefield scene where great elephants, ornamented with gold, are struck and tormented by gold-adorned arrows. They are killed and collapse to the ground, compared poetically to mountains blazing with fire.