Shloka 98

Sauptika Parva, Adhyaya 8 — Dhṛṣṭadyumna-vadha and the Camp’s Nocturnal Rout

Devanagari script

गजा गजानतिक्रम्य निर्मनुष्या हया हयान्‌

Transliteration

gajā gajān atikramya nirmanuṣyā hayā hayān

Translation

三阇耶说道：群象奔涌，越过群象；群马疾驰，冲过群马，仍不停歇——以至于那景象仿佛不见人影，似乎在人踏马蹂与夜间屠戮的混乱中，人类的存在已然消散。

Word by Word

• गजाः: elephants
• गजाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• गजान्: elephants
• गजान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गज
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• अतिक्रम्य: having overstepped / having passed beyond
• Type: Verb
• Root: अति-क्रम्
• Form: ल्यप् (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage), Non-finite

• निर्मनुष्याः: devoid of men (riderless/without people)
• निर्मनुष्याः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्मनुष्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हयाः: horses
• हयाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हयान्: horses
• हयान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• संजय (Sañjaya)
• गज (elephants)
• हय (horses)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the dehumanizing momentum of war: once violence erupts, even mighty war-animals move in blind panic, and human agency seems to disappear. Ethically, it hints at how adharma in battle produces chaos where life is trampled without discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene in the Sauptika episode: elephants and horses, in confusion and terror, rush past one another. The camp/battlefield appears ‘without men’—suggesting widespread death, flight, or the inability to distinguish people amid the tumult.