Shloka 60
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
छिन्नगात्रावराश्नैव च्छिन्नवालधयो<5परे | छिन्ना भ्राणीव सम्पेतुर्हन्यमाना महात्मना,कितने ही हाथियोंके कुम्भस्थल फट गये थे और वे खूनसे भींग गये थे। कितनोंकी सूँड़ें कट गयी थीं, कितनोंके कवच छित्न-भिन्न हो गये थे, बहुतोंकी पूँछें कट गयी थीं और कितने ही हाथी महामना कर्णकी मार खाकर खण्डित हुए मेघोंके समान पृथ्वीपर गिर गये थे
chinnagātrāvarāśnaiva cchinnavāladayo 'pare | chinnā bhrāṇīva sampetur hanyamānā mahātmanā ||
Sañjaya thưa: Nhiều con voi bị chém đứt tay chân và dây cương; những con khác bị cắt phăng chùm lông đuôi. Bị vị đại sĩ ấy đánh gục, chúng đổ sụp xuống đất như mây vỡ—thân thể tan nát, ngã chồng chất giữa cuộc tàn sát.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrible cost of war: even mighty war-elephants are mutilated and destroyed. It implicitly invites reflection on the ethical burden of kṣatriya warfare—valor and duty are enacted through violence, yet the scene is saturated with suffering and impermanence.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield where elephants, struck by a great warrior (contextually Karṇa), have their limbs and harness cut, their tail-hairs shorn, and then collapse to the ground, compared to clouds breaking apart and falling.