Shloka 15

Devanagari script

ते हेमपुड्खैरिषुभिरददिता हेममालिन: । हताः पेतुर्महानागा: साग्निज्वाला इवाद्रय:,सोनेके पंखवाले बाणोंसे पीड़ित हुए वे सुवर्ण-मालाधारी बड़े-बड़े गजराज मारे जाकर आगकी ज्वालाओंसे युक्त पर्वतोंके समान धरतीपर गिर पड़े

Transliteration

te hemapuḍkhair iṣubhir adaditā hemamālinaḥ | hatāḥ petur mahānāgāḥ sāgnijvālā ivādrayaḥ ||

Translation

Sinabi ni Sañjaya: Pinahirapan ng mga palasong ang mga tangkay ay pinalamutian ng ginto, ang malalaking elepanteng pandigma—na may mga kuwintas na ginto—ay napatay at bumagsak sa lupa na parang mga bundok na nababalutan ng mga dila ng apoy.

Word by Word

तेthose

हेमपुड्खैःwith gold-feathered (shafts)

इषुभिःby arrows

अर्दिताःtormented/afflicted

हेममालिनःwearing garlands of gold

हताःslain

पेतुःfell down

महानागाःgreat elephants

सwith

अग्निज्वालाःflames of fire

इवlike/as

अद्रयःmountains

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

mahānāgāḥ (war-elephants)

gold-adorned arrows (hemapuḍkhāḥ iṣavaḥ)

mountains (adrayaḥ)

fire/flames (agni-jvālā)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.