मागधो ऽथ महीपालो गजम् ऐरावतोपमम् ॥
प्रेषयाम् आस समरे सौभद्रस्य रथं प्रति ॥
तम् आपतन्तं संप्रेक्ष्य मागधस्य गजोत्तमम् ॥
जघानैकेषुणा वीरः सौभद्रः परवीरहा ॥
तस्यावर्जितनागस्य कार्ष्णिः परपुरंजयः ॥
राज्ञो रजतपुङ्खेन भल्लेनापहरच् छिरः ॥
विगाह्य तद् गजानीकं भीमसेनो ऽपि पाण्डवः ॥
व्यचरत् समरे मृद्नन् गजान् इन्द्रो गिरीन् इव ॥
एकप्रहाराभिहतान् भीमसेनेन कुञ्जरान् ॥
अपश्याम रणे तस्मिन् गिरीन् वज्रहतान् इव ॥
भग्नदन्तान् भग्नकटान् भग्नसक्थांश् च वारणान् ॥
भग्नपृष्ठान् भग्नकुम्भान् निहतान् पर्वतोपमान् ॥
नदतः सीदतश् चान्यान् विमुखान् समरे गजान् ॥
विमूत्रान् भग्नसंविग्नांस् तथा विशकृतो ऽपरान् ॥
भीमसेनस्य मार्गेषु गतासून् पर्वतोपमान् ॥
अपश्याम हतान् नागान् निष्टनन्तस् तथापरे ॥
वमन्तो रुधिरं चान्ये भिन्नकुम्भा महागजाः ॥
विह्वलन्तो गता भूमिं शैला इव धरातले ॥
māgadho 'tha mahīpālo gajam airāvatopamam ||
preṣayām āsa samare saubhadrasya rathaṃ prati ||
tam āpatantaṃ saṃprekṣya māgadhasya gajottamam ||
jaghānaikeṣuṇā vīraḥ saubhadraḥ paravīrahā ||
tasyāvarjitanāgasya kārṣṇiḥ parapuraṃjayaḥ ||
rājño rajatapuṅkhena bhallenāpaharac chiraḥ ||
vigāhya tad gajānīkaṃ bhīmaseno 'pi pāṇḍavaḥ ||
vyacarat samare mṛdnan gajān indro girīn iva ||
ekaprahārābhihatān bhīmasenena kuñjarān ||
apaśyāma raṇe tasmin girīn vajrahatān iva ||
bhagnadantān bhagnakaṭān bhagnasakthāṃś ca vāraṇān ||
bhagnapṛṣṭhān bhagnakumbhān nihatān parvatopamān ||
nadataḥ sīdataś cānyān vimukhān samare gajān ||
vimūtrān bhagnasaṃvignāṃs tathā viśakṛto 'parān ||
bhīmasenasya mārgeṣu gatāsūn parvatopamān ||
apaśyāma hatān nāgān niṣṭanantas tathāpare ||
vamanto rudhiraṃ cānye bhinnakumbhā mahāgajāḥ ||
vihvalanto gatā bhūmiṃ śailā iva dharātale ||
Then the king of Magadha sent forth in battle an elephant like Airavata against Saubhadra's chariot. Seeing the finest elephant of Magadha charging at him, the hero Saubhadra, slayer of enemy heroes, killed it with a single arrow. When the king's elephant had been felled, Karshni, conqueror of enemy cities, struck off the king's head with a silver-shafted bhalla. Bhimasena the Pandava, too, having plunged into that elephant-force, ranged through the battle, crushing the elephants as Indra crushes mountains. In that battle we saw elephants struck down by Bhimasena with a single blow, like mountains struck by the thunderbolt: with broken tusks, temples, thighs, backs, and frontal humps, slain and resembling mountains. We saw other elephants too — roaring, sinking down, turning away in the fight, voiding urine from terror, broken and dismayed, and others fouled with dung. Along Bhimasena's path we saw the slain elephants, lifeless, resembling mountains; others groaned, while other great elephants, their foreheads shattered, vomiting blood and staggering, fell to the ground like crags.
cb7a1a76795d · published Jul 17, 2026, 9:22:45 PM UTC
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Abhimanyu and Bhima act in different ways: one halts the king's elephant and the king himself with a single precise arrow; the other enters the thick of the elephants like a destructive force. Both display the protective power of the Pandavas when the threat grows massive and direct.