यद् एतत् कुञ्जरानीकं साहस्रम् अनुपश्यसि ॥
कुलम् अञ्जनकं नाम यत्रैते वीर्यशालिनः ॥
आस्थिता बहुभिर् म्लेच्छैर् युद्धशौण्डैः प्रहारिभिः ॥
नागा मेघनिभा राजन् क्षरन्त इव तोयदाः ॥
नैते जातु निवर्तेरन् प्रेषिता हस्तिसादिभिः ॥
अन्यत्र हि वधाद् एषां नास्ति राजन् पराजयः ॥
yad etat kuñjarānīkaṃ sāhasram anupaśyasi ||
kulam añjanakaṃ nāma yatraite vīryaśālinaḥ ||
āsthitā bahubhir mlecchair yuddhaśauṇḍaiḥ prahāribhiḥ ||
nāgā meghanibhā rājan kṣaranta iva toyadāḥ ||
naite jātu nivarteran preṣitā hastisādibhiḥ ||
anyatra hi vadhād eṣāṃ nāsti rājan parājayaḥ ||
"This here array of a thousand elephants that you see is of the clan named Anjanaka, where these, full of might, are mounted by many mlecchas, intoxicated with battle and deadly in their blows. Elephants like clouds, O king, as though streaming down rain like clouds. These will never retreat, driven on by their mahouts; for except by death, O king, there is no defeat for them."
874089f3bbda · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:02:23 PM UTC
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The elephants of Anjanaka — "na jātu nivarteran… anyatra vadhāt nāsti parājayaḥ" — know no defeat but death. Such refusal to retreat is formidable, but it is also the road to ruin, for one who knows no retreat will not survive. It is significant that inflexibility devoid of judgment turns into doom. The verse teaches that immoderate obstinacy is destructive: whoever knows no outcome but death or victory inevitably meets the former when a greater force rises against him.