Shloka 22
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
कूबरश्न रथस्यासीद् वासुकिर्भुजगोत्तम: । अपस्करमधिष्ठाने हिमवान् विन्ध्यपर्वत: । उदयास्तावधिष्ठाने गिरी चक्कुः सुरोत्तमा:
kūbaraś ca rathasyāsīd vāsukir bhujagottamaḥ | apaskaram adhiṣṭhāne himavān vindhyaparvataḥ | udayāstāv adhiṣṭhāne girayaś cakruḥ surottamāḥ | nakṣatrāṇāṃ samūha īṣādaṇḍaḥ kṛtayugaś ca yūkarūpaṃ dhārayām āsa |
قال دوريودhana: «لِتلك العربة صار فاسُكي—ملك الحيّات وأفضلُ النّاغات—هو الكوبَرا (kūbara: القطعة الخشبية الرئيسة في مقدّمة العربة/وسطها). وصار هِمَفان (جبال الهيمالايا) وجبل فِندهيا هما الأَبَسْكَرا (apaskara) وخشبَ الأساس الداعم في المؤخّرة. وصاغت الآلهةُ الفُضلى جبلي أودايا وأَسْتا دعاماتٍ خشبيةً للعجلات. وأضحى حشدُ النجوم هو العَمُود (īṣā)، واتّخذ عصرُ كِرِتا (Kṛta Yuga) نفسُه هيئةَ النِّير (yoke).»
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses cosmic symbolism to show how leaders can frame human conflict as ‘world-order’ or destiny. Ethically, it cautions that grand rhetoric may mask personal ambition: invoking the universe does not by itself establish dharma; actions and motives must still be judged.
Duryodhana describes a magnificent, mythic chariot (or chariot-structure) whose components are formed from cosmic and geographic entities—Vāsuki, the Himalaya and Vindhya, the Udaya and Asta mountains, the stars, and even the Kṛta Yuga—thereby elevating the battle’s imagery to a universal scale.