Shloka 35

Daśame’hani Bhīṣma-yuddham — Śikhaṇḍī-rakṣaṇa, Arjuna-prabhāva, Duryodhana-āśraya-vākyam

Devanagari script

विषाणे दन्तिनं गृह निर्विषाणमथाकरोत्‌

Transliteration

viṣāṇe dantinaṃ gṛhya nirviṣāṇam athākarot |

Translation

三阇耶说道：他抓住战象的象牙，猛然扯下，使那巨兽顿成无牙之象。继而又以那象牙本身击打其双鬓，将其当场击倒——宛如执杖的阎摩。此景显出冷酷的武决：在战争的道德幽暗中，力量与机智都被化作致命之器。

Word by Word

• विषाणे: in/at the two horns (tusks)
• विषाणे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विषाण
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Dual

• दन्तिनम्: the tusked one, elephant
• दन्तिनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दन्तिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• गृह्य: having seized/taken hold of
• गृह्य: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: ग्रह्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage), Prior action (having seized)

• निर्विषाणम्: tuskless, without horns/tusks
• निर्विषाणम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्विषाण
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अथ: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• अकरोत्: made/did
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• elephant (dantin)
• tusk (viṣāṇa)
• elephant’s temples (kumbhasthala)
• Yama (daṇḍadhara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the grim moral atmosphere of war: intelligence and strength can be redirected into destructive ends, and the comparison to Yama highlights the inevitability of death that overtakes even the mighty in battle.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Sañjaya’s report of the fighting, a warrior seizes an elephant’s tusk, rips it out, and then uses that tusk as a weapon to strike the elephant on its temples, killing it and casting it down on the battlefield.