Shloka 526
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)
निपेतुरु्व्या च तथा विनदन्तो महारवान् | भरतनन्दन! कुछ गजराजोंके दाँत और सूँड़के अग्रभाग कट गये
sañjaya uvāca | nipetur urvyā ca tathā vinadanto mahāravān |
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “At sila’y bumagsak sa lupa, umuungal sa malalakas na sigaw. O inapo ni Bharata, ang ilang dambuhalang elepante ay naputulan ng mga pangil at ng dulo ng kanilang nguso; nabiyak ang kanilang mga sentido at napatay ang mga sakay. Sa gayong kalagayan, nagtakbuhan sila sa iba’t ibang panig, niyurakan maging ang sarili nilang hanay, at sa huli—sumisigaw nang ubod-lakas—bumagsak sila sa lupa at namatay.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the brutal, uncontrollable fallout of war: once violence is unleashed, even powerful instruments like war-elephants become sources of indiscriminate destruction, harming friend and foe alike. It implicitly warns of the ethical cost and cascading suffering that accompany battle.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that wounded elephants—maimed in tusk and trunk, their temple-regions split and riders killed—panic and run in confusion, crushing their own troops. Finally, crying out loudly, they collapse to the earth and die.