Shloka 14
द्रोणेन केकय-चेदि-वीरवधः
Droṇa’s engagements with the Kekayas and Cedis
ततस्तस्य रथौघस्य मध्यं प्राप्प हयोत्तमा: । कृच्छेण रथमूहुस्तं क्षुत्पिपासासमन्विता:,तदनन्तर रथियोंके समूहके मध्यभागमें पहुँचकर भूख और प्याससे पीड़ित हुए वे उत्तम घोड़े बड़ी कठिनाईसे उस रथका भार वहन कर पाते थे
tatas tasya rathaughasya madhyaṃ prāpya hayottamāḥ | kṛcchreṇa ratham ūhuḥ taṃ kṣutpipāsāsamanvitāḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Kemudian, setelah mencapai bagian tengah dari himpunan kereta yang rapat itu, kuda-kuda terbaik—tersiksa oleh lapar dan dahaga—hampir tak sanggup menanggung beban kereta itu, hanya dengan susah payah.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the limits of strength under deprivation: even the best horses struggle when hunger and thirst prevail. In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, it points to the hidden suffering and moral weight of war—where victory is pursued at the cost of exhausting living beings.
Sañjaya describes a chariot pushing into the center of a tightly packed formation of chariots. The horses drawing it are already weakened by hunger and thirst, and they can barely continue carrying/pulling the chariot amid the press of battle.