Shloka 37
Chapter 137: Yuyudhāna (Sātyaki) Slays Somadatta; Yudhiṣṭhira Redirected from Droṇa
प्रापतन् स्यन्दने भ्यस्ते सार्थ सूतैर्गतासव: । चित्रपुष्पधरा भग्ना वातेनेव महाद्रुमा:,वे प्राणशून्य होकर सारथियोंके साथ रथोंसे नीचे गिर पड़े, मानो प्रचण्ड आँधीने विचित्र पुष्प धारण करनेवाले विशाल वृक्षोंकोी उखाड़कर धराशायी कर दिया हो
prāpatan syandane bhyaste sārtha sūtair gatāsavaḥ | citrapuṣpadharā bhagnā vāteneva mahādrumāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Deprived of life, they fell down from their shattered chariots together with their charioteers—like great trees laden with variegated blossoms, snapped and brought down by a violent wind.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights impermanence and the leveling force of death in war: outward grandeur (chariots, martial display) collapses instantly when life-breath departs, warning against pride and reminding that violence rapidly reduces all to the same end.
Sañjaya describes warriors already slain: their chariots are shattered, and the lifeless fighters fall down along with their charioteers, compared to huge flowering trees broken and felled by a fierce wind.