नरान् एव नरा जघ्नुर् उदग्राश् च हया हयान् ॥
रथांश् च रथिनो जघ्नुर् वारणा वरवारणान् ॥
समुच्छ्रितपताकानां गजानां परमद्विपैः ॥
क्षणेन तुमुलो घोरः संग्रामः समवर्तत ॥
तेषां संसक्तगात्राणां कर्षताम् इतरेतरम् ॥
दन्तसंघातसंघर्षात् सधूमो ऽग्निर् अजायत ॥
विप्रकीर्णपताकास् ते विषाणजनिताग्नयः ॥
बभूवुः खं समासाद्य सविद्युत इवाम्बुदाः ॥
narān eva narā jaghnur udagrāś ca hayā hayān ||
rathāṃś ca rathino jaghnur vāraṇā varavāraṇān ||
samucchritapatākānāṃ gajānāṃ paramadvipaiḥ ||
kṣaṇena tumulo ghoraḥ saṃgrāmaḥ samavartata ||
teṣāṃ saṃsaktagātrāṇāṃ karṣatām itaretaram ||
dantasaṃghātasaṃgharṣāt sadhūmo 'gnir ajāyata ||
viprakīrṇapatākās te viṣāṇajanitāgnayaḥ ||
babhūvuḥ khaṃ samāsādya savidyuta ivāmbudāḥ ||
Warriors struck down warriors themselves, and fierce horses [struck down] horses, and chariot-fighters smashed chariots, and elephants [smashed] other mighty elephants. Among elephants with tall standards and mighty elephants, in an instant a fierce, dreadful combat broke out. Among those elephants whose bodies pressed close together, pressing one another, from the friction of clashing tusks fire arose with smoke. Those elephants with scattered standards, with fire born from the friction of tusks, having reached the vault of heaven, presented themselves just like storm-clouds with lightning.
f046be5f8107 · publicado 19 jul 2026, 15:00:04 UTC
Disponible enRUENPasa de verso en verso con
Like turns against like: man against man, horse against horse, elephant against elephant — an image of war as the mutual annihilation of equals. From the very friction of colliding tusks fire is born — violence strikes flame out of itself, needing no outer spark. It is significant that the elephants with their standards and fire are likened to storm-clouds with lightning: earthly fury grows to resemble a heavenly tempest. The verse teaches that the enmity of equals devours both sides utterly; that violence self-ignites from its own force, as fire from friction; and that inflamed passion, having reached its limit, imagines itself an elemental and celestial power, while remaining only the self-immolation of the living turned against the living.