Shloka 68
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
रथान् हेमपरिष्कारान् संयुक्ताञ्जवनैह्यै: । भ्राम्यमाणानपश्याम हतेषु रथिषु द्रुतम्,वेगशाली घोड़ोंसे जुते हुए कितने ही सुवर्णभूषित रथ सारथि और रथियोंके मारे जानेसे वेगपूर्वक दौड़ते दिखायी देते थे
rathān hemapariṣkārān saṁyuktān javanaiḥ hayaiḥ | bhrāmyamāṇān apaśyāma hateṣu rathiṣu drutam ||
Sañjaya said: “We saw many chariots, adorned with golden fittings and yoked to swift horses, careening wildly at speed—once their charioteers and warriors had been slain.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of martial power: splendid war-machines become dangerous and purposeless once human agency (charioteer and warrior) is destroyed, highlighting the swift collapse of control amid violence.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield scene where, after charioteers and chariot-fighters are killed, their gold-decked chariots—still yoked to fast horses—rush about uncontrollably, spinning and racing in confusion.