Shloka 53
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ााभारत भीष्मपर्वके अन्तर्गत भीष्मवधपर्वमें धृष्टट्युम्न और द्रोणका युद्धविषयक तिरपनवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,छिन्नांश्न तोमरान् राजन् महामात्रशिरांसि च
sañjaya uvāca | iti prakāraṁ śrīmahābhārate bhīṣmaparvake antargate bhīṣmavadhaparvaṇi dhṛṣṭadyumna-dronayor yuddhaviṣayakaḥ tripañcāśattamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ | chinnāṁś ca tomarān rājan mahāmātraśirāṁsi ca |
اے راجن! وہاں ٹوٹے ہوئے تومر اور مہامात्रاؤں کے کٹے ہوئے سر بھی پڑے تھے۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse functions as a closing colophon with a stark war-image: it underscores the heavy moral and human cost of conflict. Even when framed as kṣatriya-duty, battle produces irreversible loss, reminding the listener (and reader) that dharma in war is burdened by consequence and grief.
Sanjaya concludes the chapter describing the combat between Dhṛṣṭadyumna and Droṇa within the Bhīṣma Parvan’s Bhīṣma-vadha section, and he evokes the battlefield scene—broken spears and severed heads of high commanders—to convey the intensity and devastation of the fighting.