Shloka 41
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)
छिन्नस्कन्ध: स विनदन् पपात गजयूथप: । आरुग्ण: सिन्धुवेगेन सानुमानिव पर्वत:,कंधा कट जानेसे वह गजयूथपति चिग्घाड़ता हुआ समुद्रके वेगसे भग्न होकर गिरनेवाले शिखरयुक्त पर्वतके समान धराशायी हो गया
chinnaskandhaḥ sa vinadan papāta gajayūthapaḥ | ārugṇaḥ sindhuvegena sānumān iva parvataḥ ||
三阇耶说道：肩部被斩断后，那象群之首哀鸣着倒下——仿佛被海潮奔涌之势击碎一般——又如峰峦耸立之山，脊岭一断便轰然崩塌。此喻显出战阵的可怖势头：纵是最强大的活体壁垒，也会在顷刻间被摧折。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of embodied power in war: even a formidable force like an elephant-chief can be felled instantly. It reinforces the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical tension—martial prowess and massed might do not guarantee security, and violence rapidly reduces living strength to ruin.
Sañjaya describes an elephant-herd leader whose shoulder-trunk has been cut; it trumpets and collapses. The fall is compared to a peak-bearing mountain broken and brought down by the ocean’s rushing force, intensifying the scene’s scale and devastation.