Shloka 18
शल्यपर्व — चतुर्विंशोऽध्यायः | Śalya Parva, Chapter 24: Disruption of Kaurava Formations and the Elephant Encirclement
अनन्तकल्पा ध्वजिनी भूत्वा होषां महात्मनाम् | क्षयमद्य गता युद्धे पश्य दैव॑ यथाविधम्,“इन महामनस्वी कौरवोंके पास अपार सेना थी; परंतु युद्धमें इस समयतक प्रायः नष्ट हो गयी। देखिये, प्रारब्धका कैसा खेल है?
anantakalpā dhvajinī bhūtvā hoṣāṁ mahātmanām | kṣayam adya gatā yuddhe paśya daivaṁ yathāvidham ||
Sañjaya said: “Though the high-souled Kauravas once possessed an army vast beyond measure, today in this war it has been brought to ruin. Behold how destiny—working in its appointed way—plays out.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even immense power and resources are fragile in the face of time, karma, and daiva (destiny); the verse invites reflection on impermanence and the moral weight of actions that culminate in ruin.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kauravas’ once vast host has now been largely destroyed in the ongoing war, and he urges the king to recognize the working of destiny in these events.