Shloka 18
Kṛtavarmā–Sātyaki Chariot Duel and Kaurava Morale Shock (कृतवर्म-सात्यकि-द्वैरथम्)
सतं रथं हेमविभूषिताडूं साश्वं ससूतं सहसा विमृद्य । उत्क्षिप्प हस्तेन नदन् महाद्विपो विपोथयामास वसुन्धरातले
sa taṁ rathaṁ hemavibhūṣitāṅgaṁ sāśvaṁ sasūtaṁ sahasā vimṛdya | utkṣipya hastena nadan mahādvipo vipothayāmāsa vasundharātale ||
সঞ্জয় বললেন—গর্জন করতে করতে সেই মহাদ্বিপ ধৃষ্টদ্যুম্নের স্বর্ণভূষিত রথটিকে ঘোড়া ও সারথিসহ হঠাৎই পিষে ফেলল। তারপর শুঁড়ে তুলে ভূমিতলে প্রচণ্ডভাবে আছাড় মারল।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the impermanence of worldly power and splendor in the chaos of battle: even a gold-adorned chariot and its crew can be destroyed in a moment by overwhelming force. Ethically, it reflects the harsh reality of kṣatriya warfare, where courage and might operate within a tragic field of destruction.
Sañjaya describes a great elephant that, while trumpeting, suddenly tramples Dhṛṣṭadyumna’s gold-decorated chariot along with the horses and charioteer, then lifts it with its trunk and smashes it onto the ground.