Shloka 18
Karṇa’s advance against the Pāṇḍava host; Arjuna’s clash with the Saṃśaptakas (कर्णस्य पाण्डवसेनाप्रवेशः—अर्जुनस्य संशप्तकसंप्रहारः)
काज्चनं दिवि तत्रासीदन्तरिक्षे च राजतम् । आयसं चाभवद् भौम॑ चक्रस्थं पृथिवीपते
kāñcanaṃ divi tatrāsīd antarīkṣe ca rājatam | āyasaṃ cābhavad bhaumaṃ cakrasthaṃ pṛthivīpate, nibodha manasā cātra na te kāryā vicāraṇā |
Duryodhana sprach: „O Herr der Erde, in jenem uralten Geschehen war die goldene Stadt im Himmel und die silberne in der Luft dazwischen; und auf der Erde befand sich die eiserne, fest auf ein Rad gesetzt. Erfasse dies mit festem Geist; zweifle nicht und hege keine anderen Vermutungen.“
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights rhetorical authority: Duryodhana urges the listener to accept an extraordinary account without skeptical re-interpretation, showing how leaders use certainty and insistence to shape belief during crisis.
Duryodhana continues recounting an ancient marvel (linked in the surrounding passage to old divine–demonic conflicts) and addresses the king as “pṛthivīpati,” insisting he listen attentively and not doubt the described cosmic arrangement of metals across heaven, mid-air, and earth.