Shloka 66
अस्त्रयुद्धे द्रौणिपार्थसंघर्षः — Karṇa’s Bhārgavāstra and the Search for Yudhiṣṭhira
Chapter 45
गन्धर्वनगराकारा रथा हतनरेश्वरा: । विमानानीव पुण्यानि स्वर्गिणां निपतन्त्यमी,“जिनके नरेश मारे गये हैं, वे गन्धर्वनगरके समान विशाल रथ स्वर्गवासियोंके पुण्यमय विमानोंके समान नीचे गिर रहे हैं
gandharva-nagarākārā rathā hata-nareśvarāḥ | vimānānīva puṇyāni svargiṇāṁ nipatanty amī ||
Sañjaya sprach: Jene großen Streitwagen—gestaltet wie die glänzenden Städte der Gandharvas—sind nun, ihrer Könige beraubt, die erschlagen wurden, im Sturz nach unten, wie die verdienstvollen Vimānas der Gerechten im Himmel, wenn ihr Verdienst erschöpft ist.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights impermanence and the dependence of worldly splendor on sustaining merit and leadership: magnificent chariots (symbols of power) collapse once their rulers are slain, just as heavenly vimānas are said to fall when merit is spent—implying that status without enduring dharmic support is unstable.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene: many grand chariots, now riderless because their warrior-kings have been killed, are toppling and crashing down. He intensifies the horror and grandeur through a simile comparing them to celestial vimānas falling from heaven.