Shloka 18

Devanagari script

रथा हीना महाराज रथिभिवाजिभिस्तथा । गन्धर्वनगराकारा दृश्यन्ते सम सहस्रश:,महाराज! गन्धर्वनगरोंके समान सहस्रों विशाल रथ रथियों और घोड़ोंसे हीन दिखायी देने लगे

Transliteration

rathā hīnā mahārāja rathibhivājibhistathā | gandharvanagarākārā dṛśyante sama sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, thousands of great chariots now appear—bereft of charioteers and horses—like the illusory cities of the Gandharvas.

Word by Word

रथाःchariots

हीनाःdevoid (of)

महाराजO great king

रथिभिःwith charioteers/warriors in chariots

वाजिभिःwith horses

तथाalso/likewise

गन्धर्वनगराकाराःhaving the appearance of a Gandharva-city (illusory city)

दृश्यन्तेare seen/appear

समम्all around/everywhere; equally

सहस्रशःby thousands; in thousands

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja')

chariots

chariot-warriors/charioteers

horses

Gandharvas (as a simile: 'Gandharva-city')

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the fragility of martial glory: even the grandest war-machines become empty, mirage-like forms when life is lost. It implicitly warns that violence strips objects of their intended dharmic purpose and leaves only desolation and unreality in its wake.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene: countless large chariots are seen abandoned—without warriors and without horses—so that they resemble the illusory ‘cities of the Gandharvas,’ a poetic image for something splendid yet unreal and fleeting.