Shloka 19
Arjuna Confronted by Saindhava Forces during the Aśvamedha Circuit (श्वेतवाहनस्य सैन्धवसंघर्षः)
स पतन् शुशुभे नागो धनंजयशराहत: । विशन्निव महाशैलो महीं वज्रप्रपीडित:
sa patan śuśubhe nāgo dhanañjayaśarāhataḥ | viśann iva mahāśailo mahīṃ vajraprapīḍitaḥ ||
毗湿摩耶那说道：那象被檀那阇耶（阿周那）的箭矢所伤而倒下；然而即便在倾覆之际，它仍显得壮丽，宛如巨山被金刚雷霆重重压碎，仿佛将要沉入大地。
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the epic ethic of recognizing prowess even in an enemy’s downfall: the fallen elephant is described with grandeur, reminding the listener that war entails immense suffering and that true martial excellence is accompanied by sober awareness of its consequences.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that an elephant, struck by Arjuna’s arrows, collapses. Its fall is compared to a huge mountain crushed by Indra’s thunderbolt, seeming to sink into the earth—an image intensifying the scale and violence of the battlefield.