Mahabharata 6.121.3 — Bhishma Parva, Adhyaya 121, Shloka 3
अश्वा नाश्वैरयुध्यन्त गजा न गजयोधिभि: । उन्मत्तवन्महाराज युध्यन्ते तत्र भारत
aśvā nāśvair ayudhyanta gajā na gajayodhibhiḥ | unmattavan mahārāja yudhyante tatra bhārata ||
Wika ni Sañjaya: “O dakilang hari, ang mga kabayo ay hindi lamang nakikipaglaban sa mga kabayo, ni ang mga elepante sa mga mandirigmang-elepante. O Bharata, doon ay nakipaglaban ang mga tao na parang mga ulol—walang pagsasaalang-alang sa nararapat na katapat o sa kaayusan—sumusugod laban sa sinumang masalubong.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war can dissolve discipline and discernment: fighters abandon proper order and proportional engagement, becoming ‘unmattavat’—as if mad. Ethically, it points to the dehumanizing momentum of battle, where right measure and restraint are easily lost.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the battlefield has become confused and indiscriminate: cavalry do not limit themselves to cavalry, and elephant units do not fight only their counterparts; instead, combatants clash with anyone they encounter, as though frenzied.
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