Shloka 24
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
गड़ा सरस्वती सिन्धुर्धुमाकाशमेव च । उपस्करो रथस्यासन्नाप: सर्वाश्ष निम्नगा:,गंगा, सरस्वती और सिंधु--इन तीनों नदियोंके साथ आकाश त्रिवेणुकाष्ठयुक्त धुरेका भाग हुआ। उस रथके बन्धन आदिकी सामग्री जल तथा सम्पूर्ण नदियाँ थीं
gaḍā sarasvatī sindhur dhūmākāśam eva ca | upaskaro rathasyāsann āpaḥ sarvāś ca nimnagāḥ ||
Duryodhana said: “The mace became Sarasvatī; the Sindhu too was there; and even the smoky sky took its place. The fittings and fastenings of that chariot were water itself, and all the rivers that flow downward.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses hyperbolic, cosmic imagery to show how war distorts values: even sacred, life-sustaining waters and rivers are imagined as mere chariot-gear. It implicitly warns that adharma-driven conflict can turn the natural and sacred order into instruments of destruction.
Duryodhana describes a terrifying battlefield vision in which elements of nature—rivers, water, and a smoke-darkened sky—are poetically mapped onto parts of a warrior’s equipment and chariot, intensifying the sense of overwhelming, world-consuming warfare.