Shloka 42
Adhyāya 74 (Book 6, Bhīṣma-parva): Bhīma–Duryodhana re-engagement and afternoon escalation
तेषां तथा कर्षतां तु गजानां रूपमाबभौ | सर:सु नलिनीजालं विषक्तमिव कर्षताम्
teṣāṃ tathā karṣatāṃ tu gajānāṃ rūpam ābabhau | saraḥsu nalinījālaṃ viṣaktam iva karṣatām ||
Wika ni Sañjaya: Habang ang mga elepanteng iyon ay nagpupumiglas at humihila, ang anyo nila’y naging tulad ng gusot na lambat ng mga tangkay ng lotus na nasabit sa mga lawa—larawan ng dakilang lakas na napipigil ng pagkakabuhol sa gitna ng digmaan.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even great power can be checked by entanglement and adverse conditions; in war, strength alone does not guarantee freedom of action, and confusion can bind the mighty like a net.
Sañjaya describes elephants in the battle struggling as they pull and strain; their clustered, hindered movement is compared to lotus-stalks tangled together in a lake.