तेष्व् अनीकेषु सर्वेषु विद्रवत्सु समन्ततः ॥
प्राग्ज्योतिषस् ततो भीमं कुञ्जरेण समाद्रवत् ॥
येन नागेन मघवान् अजयद् दैत्यदानवान् ॥
स नागप्रवरो भीमं सहसा समुपाद्रवत् ॥
श्रवणाभ्याम् अथो पद्भ्यां संहतेन करेण च ॥
व्यावृत्तनयनः क्रुद्धः प्रदहन्न् इव पाण्डवम् ॥
teṣv anīkeṣu sarveṣu vidravatsu samantataḥ ||
prāgjyotiṣas tato bhīmaṃ kuñjareṇa samādravat ||
yena nāgena maghavān ajayad daityadānavān ||
sa nāgapravaro bhīmaṃ sahasā samupādravat ||
śravaṇābhyām atho padbhyāṃ saṃhatena kareṇa ca ||
vyāvṛttanayanaḥ kruddhaḥ pradahann iva pāṇḍavam ||
When all those ranks were fleeing on every side, Bhagadatta then charged at Bhima upon his elephant. With that best of elephants, the same with which Indra overcame the daityas and danavas, he swiftly charged at Bhima — with its ears, its feet, and its curled trunk, rolling its eyes, enraged, as if incinerating the Pandava.
b0294582994a · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
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Bhagadatta enters battle upon the elephant Supratika — the very one with which Indra once overcame the daityas and danavas. An ancient, almost divine weapon takes the field, and the battle once more takes on cosmic features. It is telling that the aged king shows the fiercest valor — old age has not diminished his might. The verse teaches that some weapons and some men carry within them a reflection of ancient, otherworldly deeds, and encountering them raises earthly combat to the measure of myth; that valor does not forsake the worthy even in advanced years; and that tradition, by tracing Bhagadatta's elephant back to Indra's victories over the asuras, once again reminds us: behind every great battle glimmers that primordial strife of the higher powers, of which every earthly war is but an image.