Shloka 11
Bhīmasena’s Kalinga Engagement and the Approach of Bhīṣma (भीमसेन-कालिङ्ग-संग्रामः)
अच्छी तरह शिक्षा पाये हुए कितने ही हाथी तथा श्रेष्ठ गज
sañjaya uvāca—susaṃskṛtā bahavo hastinaś ca śreṣṭhā gajāś ca, yeṣāṃ gaṇḍasthalebhyo madaḥ sravati sma, te ṛṣṭi-tomara-nārācair viddhāḥ, marma-vidīrṇatvāc cighghāṭantaḥ prāṇaśūnyā bhūmau nipetūḥ; kecid bhayānaka-cītkāraṃ kurvāṇāḥ sarvā diśo vidudruvuḥ.
三阇耶说道：许多训练精良的战象与高贵的长牙象，太阳穴处狂暴之液（ichor）淌流，却被长矛、投枪与铁箭（ṛṣṭi、tomara、nārāca）刺穿。要害被撕裂，它们痛号嘶鸣，随即气绝倒地；另一些发出骇人的叫声，惊惶失措，向四方奔逃。此景揭示战争的道德代价：即便最强健、为战阵而受训的生灵，当暴力淹没克制、职责坍塌为屠戮之时，也只能沦为无助的牺牲品。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grievous consequences of warfare: strength, training, and nobility cannot protect beings from the indiscriminate destruction of battle. It implicitly invites ethical reflection on the cost of conflict and the suffering inflicted on even non-human participants compelled into war.
Sanjaya describes the battlefield where many musth elephants are pierced by spears, javelins, and iron arrows. With their vital points torn, they trumpet, collapse dead, and some flee in terror in all directions, conveying chaos and devastation among the war-elephants.