अक्षो भग्नो ध्वजश् छिन्नश् छत्रम् उर्व्यां निपातितम् ॥
युगार्धं छिन्नम् आदाय प्रदुद्राव तथा हयः ॥
सासिर् बाहुर् निपतितः शिरश् छिन्नं सकुण्डलम् ॥
गजेनाक्षिप्य बलिना रथः संचूर्णितः क्षितौ ॥
रथिना ताडितो नागो नाराचेनापतद् व्यसुः ॥
सारोहश् चापतद् वाजी गजेनाताडितो भृशम् ॥
akṣo bhagno dhvajaś chinnaś chatram urvyāṃ nipātitam ||
yugārdhaṃ chinnam ādāya pradudrāva tathā hayaḥ ||
sāsir bāhur nipatitaḥ śiraś chinnaṃ sakuṇḍalam ||
gajenākṣipya balinā rathaḥ saṃcūrṇitaḥ kṣitau ||
rathinā tāḍito nāgo nārācenāpatad vyasuḥ ||
sārohaś cāpatad vājī gajenātāḍito bhṛśam ||
The axle broken, the banner severed, the parasol cast to the ground; dragging half a broken yoke-pole, the horse dashed away. A severed arm still holding its sword had fallen; a head, severed together with its earrings — the mighty elephant, flinging it aside, crushed the chariot to the ground. An elephant, struck by a chariot warrior's arrow-naracha, fell lifeless; and a horse with its rider fell too, struck hard by an elephant.
d705b7b81d72 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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The battlefield reveals a scattering of wreckage: broken axles, severed banners, severed arms still clutching a sword. In this catalogue of things torn apart is the image of order utterly shattered: everything once gathered into a well-ordered fighting force is broken into pieces. It is telling that the horse dashed away dragging a broken piece of the yoke-pole — even what escaped bears the mark of ruin. The verse teaches that war tears apart not only bodies but the whole ordered arrangement of things, turning equipment into wreckage; that of a great structure only fragments remain; and that one who perceives beneath this scattered wreckage the vanity of all martial splendor will not place his trust in it, remembering how quickly the well-ordered becomes a heap of shattered refuse.