Shloka 10
भीष्मरक्षण-उद्योगः, शिखण्डि-विवर्जनं, सर्वतोभद्र-व्यूहः
Protection of Bhīṣma, Exemption of Śikhaṇḍin, and the Sarvatobhadra Array
उद्यतां तां महाशक्ति तम्मिंक्षिक्षेप वारणे
udyatāṃ tāṃ mahāśaktiṃ tam miṃkṣikṣepa vāraṇe | rājann ghaṭotkacabhujābhyāṃ chūtāyāḥ śaktyāḥ prahāreṇa hastinaḥ kumbhasthalaṃ phuṭaṃ tataś ca rudhirasrotaḥ prasasāra | sa ca tatkṣaṇād bhūmau papāta mṛtaś ca ||
Sinabi ni Sanjaya: Itinaas niya ang makapangyarihang sandatang śakti at inihagis iyon sa elepante. O Hari, sa bagsik ng śakti na pinakawalan mula sa mga bisig ni Ghaṭotkaca, nabiyak ang mga umbok sa noo ng elepante at bumulwak ang dugo na parang batis. Agad itong bumagsak sa lupa at namatay.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the brutal immediacy of war: worldly might—symbolized by a war-elephant—can be undone in an instant by a superior weapon and resolve. It also reflects the epic’s ethical tension: even when fighting is framed as kṣatriya-duty, the narrative does not romanticize violence; it shows its stark, irreversible consequences.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a mighty śakti-weapon, released from Ghaṭotkaca’s arms, strikes an elephant. The elephant’s temples (kumbhasthala) burst, blood flows, and it collapses and dies immediately.