Shloka 18

Devanagari script

यदा द्रष्टा भीमसेनेन नागान्‌ निपातितान्‌ गिरिकूटप्रकाशान्‌ । कुम्भैरिवासृग्वमतो भिन्नकुम्भां- स्तदा युद्ध धार्तराष्ट्रोडन्वतप्स्यत्‌,जब भीमसेन पर्वताकार प्रतीत होनेवाले बड़े-बड़े गजराजोंको गदाके आघातसे उनका कुम्भस्थल विदीर्ण करके मार गिरायेंगे और वे मानो घड़ोंसे खून उँड़ेल रहे हों, इस प्रकार मस्तकसे रक्तकी धारा बहाने लगेंगे, उस समय दुर्योधन जब यह दृश्य देखेगा, तब उसे युद्ध छेड़नेके कारण बड़ा भारी पश्चात्ताप होगा

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | yadā draṣṭā bhīmasenena nāgān nipātitān girikūṭaprakāśān | kumbhair ivāsṛg vamato bhinnakumbhāṁs tadā yuddhe dhārtarāṣṭro 'nvatapsyat ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“当难敌看见那些雄壮巨象——大如山峰——被毗摩塞那击倒，象颞被劈裂，鲜血奔涌，宛如碎罐倾泻之时，那么就在战阵之中，持国之子将被灼热的悔恨攫住，只因他挑起了这场争斗。”

Word by Word

यदाwhen

द्रष्टाthe seer/observer (Duryodhana)

भीमसेनेनby Bhimasena

नागान्elephants

निपातितान्felled/struck down

गिरिकूटप्रकाशान्resembling mountain-peaks

कुम्भैःwith/from (their) temples (kumbhas)

इवas if/like

असृक्blood

वमतःvomiting/oozing forth

भिन्नकुम्भान्with split temples

तदाthen

युद्धेin battle

धार्तराष्ट्रःthe son of Dhritarashtra (Duryodhana)

अनुतप्स्यत्will regret/repent

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

Dhārtarāṣṭra (Duryodhana)

Nāgāḥ (war-elephants)

Kumbha (elephant temples/forehead; jars in simile)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the moral weight of initiating unjust conflict: even the instigator may later be consumed by remorse when confronted with the real, gruesome consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya foretells a battlefield scene where Bhīma fells massive war-elephants, splitting their temples so blood streams out; seeing this carnage, Duryodhana (Dhārtarāṣṭra) is predicted to feel intense regret for having set the war in motion.