Shloka 21

कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line

Devanagari script

ईषा नक्षत्रवंशश्व॒ युग: कृतयुगो5भवत्‌

Transliteration

īṣā nakṣatravaṃśaś ca yugaḥ kṛtayugo 'bhavat | nakṣatrāṇāṃ samūha īṣādaṇḍo babhūva ca | vāsukir nāgarājo 'sya rathasya kūbaro 'bhavat | himavān apaskaro 'bhūd vindhyaś cādhārakāṣṭhavat | udayācalaś cāstācalaś ca tayor devair mahātmabhiḥ | cakrapratiṣṭhākāṣṭhāni kṛtāni rathasaṃyuge ||

Translation

قال دُريودhana: «إن عمودَ ذلك المركب الكوني صار خطَّ الكوكبات، وصار النِّيرُ على هيئة كِرتا-يوغا (Kṛta-yuga). واجتمع حشدُ النجوم فغدا عصا العمود. وأضحى فاسُكي (Vāsuki)، ملكُ الأفاعي، وتدَ النِّير في تلك العربة. وصار الهيمالايا عارضةَ المؤخرة، وصارت الفِندهيا (Vindhya) العارضةَ الداعمة. وأما أوداياچالا (Udayācala) وأستاچالا (Astācala) فقد صاغتهما تلك الكائنات الإلهية السامية دعاماتٍ خشبية تُقام عليها العجلات.»

Word by Word

• īṣā: pole-shaft (of a chariot/yoke)
• īṣā: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: īṣā
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• nakṣatra-vaṃśaḥ: the lineage/cluster of stars (constellation-group)
• nakṣatra-vaṃśaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: nakṣatra-vaṃśa
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca

• yugaḥ: yoke
• yugaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuga
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• kṛta-yugaḥ: the Kṛta-yuga (Golden Age)
• kṛta-yugaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛta-yuga
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• abhavat: became/was
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū
• Form: Imperfect, 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Nakṣatras (constellations/stars)
• Kṛta-yuga
• Vāsuki
• Nāgarāja (serpent-king)
• Himālaya
• Vindhya
• Udayācala
• Astācala
• Ratha (chariot)
• Yoke (yuga)
• Chariot-pole (īṣā)
• Wheel supports (cakrapratiṣṭhākāṣṭha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses cosmic-chariot imagery to magnify a martial enterprise by mapping parts of a chariot onto the universe (stars, yugas, mountains, serpent-king). Ethically, it reflects how power and ambition can seek legitimacy through grand mythic symbolism—an epic reminder that rhetorical grandeur does not itself establish dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana describes a wondrous, cosmic-scale chariot construction: constellations become the pole, the Kṛta-yuga becomes the yoke, Vāsuki becomes the fastening pin, and great mountains become structural timbers and wheel-bases. The passage functions as an elevated description (utprekṣā-like) to intensify the scene’s mythic atmosphere in the Karṇa Parva war context.