Shloka 16
रथी द्विपस्थेन हतो5पतच्छरै: क्राथाधिप: पर्वतजेन दुर्जय: । सवाजिसूतेष्वसनध्वजस्तथा यथा महावातहतो महाद्रुम:,तदनन्तर जैसे आँधीका उखाड़ा हुआ विशाल वृक्ष पृथ्वीपर गिर जाता है, उसी प्रकार घोड़े, सारथि, धनुष और ध्वजसहित दुर्जय महारथी क्राथ नरेश हाथीपर बैठे हुए एक पर्वतीय वीरके बाणोंसे मारा जाकर रथसे नीचे जा गिरा
sañjaya uvāca |
rathī dvipasthena hato ’patac charaiḥ krāthādhipaḥ parvatajena durjayaḥ |
savājisūteṣv asanadhvajas tathā yathā mahāvātahato mahādrumaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The mighty king of Krātha, the hard-to-conquer great chariot-warrior Durjaya, was struck down by the arrows of a mountain-born hero who fought from an elephant. Falling from his chariot—together with his horses, charioteer, bow, and banner—he crashed to the earth like a huge tree torn down by a violent wind.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly power in war: even a famed, ‘hard-to-conquer’ warrior can be brought down in an instant. It implicitly cautions against overreliance on status and martial pride, pointing to impermanence and the decisive force of circumstance (daiva) alongside human effort (puruṣakāra).
Sañjaya reports that Durjaya, the king of Krātha and a great chariot-fighter, is killed by the arrows of a mountain-born warrior fighting from an elephant. Durjaya falls from his chariot along with its full martial apparatus—horses, charioteer, bow, and banner—likened to a massive tree uprooted by a storm.