Shloka 98

Devanagari script

गजा गजानतिक्रम्य निर्मनुष्या हया हयान्‌

Transliteration

gajā gajān atikramya nirmanuṣyā hayā hayān

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Voi xô vượt qua voi, ngựa lao vượt qua ngựa, cứ thế tràn đi—khiến cảnh tượng như vắng bóng con người, như thể sự hiện diện của loài người đã tan biến giữa cuộc giẫm đạp và hỗn loạn của cuộc tàn sát trong đêm.

Word by Word

• गजाः: elephants
• गजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गजान्: elephants
• गजान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अतिक्रम्य: having overstepped / having passed beyond
• Type: Verb
• Root: अति-क्रम्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage), Non-finite

• निर्मनुष्याः: devoid of men (riderless/without people)
• निर्मनुष्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्मनुष्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हयाः: horses
• हयाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हयान्: horses
• हयान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• गज (elephants)
• हय (horses)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the dehumanizing momentum of war: once violence erupts, even mighty war-animals move in blind panic, and human agency seems to disappear. Ethically, it hints at how adharma in battle produces chaos where life is trampled without discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene in the Sauptika episode: elephants and horses, in confusion and terror, rush past one another. The camp/battlefield appears ‘without men’—suggesting widespread death, flight, or the inability to distinguish people amid the tumult.