Shloka 20
भीष्मरथाभिमुख्यं — Arjuna’s advance with Śikhaṇḍin; Duḥśāsana’s interception
मृद्नन्तस्ते नरान् राजन् हयांश्व सुबहून् रणे वातायमाना दृश्यने गन्धर्वनगरोपमा:,राजन! वे रथ उस रणक्षेत्रमें आपके बहुत-से पैदल मनुष्यों तथा घोड़ोंको कुचलते हुए हवाके समान तीव्र गतिसे भाग रहे थे और गन्धर्वनगरके समान दृष्टिगोचर हो रहे थे
sañjaya uvāca | mṛdnantas te narān rājan hayāṃś ca bahūn raṇe vātāyamānā dṛśyante gandharva-nagaropamāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, those chariots, crushing many of your foot-soldiers and horses in the battle, were seen rushing like the wind—appearing like a celestial city of the Gandharvas.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts the dazzling, almost heavenly appearance of martial power with its brutal reality: what looks splendid and swift like a celestial vision is simultaneously trampling living beings. It invites ethical reflection on how war’s glamour can mask suffering and moral consequence.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that certain chariots on the battlefield are charging with wind-like speed, crushing many of the king’s infantry and horses, and their moving formation appears wondrous—likened to a Gandharva-city.