Shloka 526
Daiva–Puruṣakāra Discourse and the Elephant-Corps Engagement (भीमगजानीक-सम्भ्रान्ति)
निपेतुरु्व्या च तथा विनदन्तो महारवान् | भरतनन्दन! कुछ गजराजोंके दाँत और सूँड़के अग्रभाग कट गये
sañjaya uvāca | nipetur urvyā ca tathā vinadanto mahāravān |
三阇耶说：“于是它们坠倒于地，发出震天的哀号。噢，婆罗多的后裔！有些象王被斩断象牙与象鼻尖端，颞部被劈裂，骑乘者亦被杀。它们在那般境况下四处奔逃，反而践踏了自家阵列；最终——厉声嘶鸣——轰然倒地而死。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores the brutal, uncontrollable fallout of war: once violence is unleashed, even powerful instruments like war-elephants become sources of indiscriminate destruction, harming friend and foe alike. It implicitly warns of the ethical cost and cascading suffering that accompany battle.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that wounded elephants—maimed in tusk and trunk, their temple-regions split and riders killed—panic and run in confusion, crushing their own troops. Finally, crying out loudly, they collapse to the earth and die.