Shloka 22
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
कूबरश्न रथस्यासीद् वासुकिर्भुजगोत्तम: । अपस्करमधिष्ठाने हिमवान् विन्ध्यपर्वत: । उदयास्तावधिष्ठाने गिरी चक्कुः सुरोत्तमा:
kūbaraś ca rathasyāsīd vāsukir bhujagottamaḥ | apaskaram adhiṣṭhāne himavān vindhyaparvataḥ | udayāstāv adhiṣṭhāne girayaś cakruḥ surottamāḥ | nakṣatrāṇāṃ samūha īṣādaṇḍaḥ kṛtayugaś ca yūkarūpaṃ dhārayām āsa |
Duryodhana dijo: “Para aquel carro, Vāsuki—rey de las serpientes, el mejor entre los nāgas—se convirtió en el kūbara (la pieza estructural principal delantera/central). Himavān (el Himalaya) y la montaña Vindhya se volvieron el apaskara y la madera de apoyo en la parte trasera. Los dioses excelsos hicieron de los montes Udaya y Asta los soportes de madera de las ruedas. La hueste de estrellas fue el timón (īṣā), y el propio Kṛta Yuga asumió la forma del yugo.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses cosmic symbolism to show how leaders can frame human conflict as ‘world-order’ or destiny. Ethically, it cautions that grand rhetoric may mask personal ambition: invoking the universe does not by itself establish dharma; actions and motives must still be judged.
Duryodhana describes a magnificent, mythic chariot (or chariot-structure) whose components are formed from cosmic and geographic entities—Vāsuki, the Himalaya and Vindhya, the Udaya and Asta mountains, the stars, and even the Kṛta Yuga—thereby elevating the battle’s imagery to a universal scale.