Shloka 16
रथी द्विपस्थेन हतो5पतच्छरै: क्राथाधिप: पर्वतजेन दुर्जय: । सवाजिसूतेष्वसनध्वजस्तथा यथा महावातहतो महाद्रुम:
sañjaya uvāca |
rathī dvipasthena hato ’patac charaiḥ krāthādhipaḥ parvatajena durjayaḥ |
savājisūteṣv asanadhvajas tathā yathā mahāvātahato mahādrumaḥ ||
Sañjaya berkata: Kemudian raja Krātha, Durjaya sang mahakereta yang sukar ditaklukkan, tewas oleh panah-panah seorang pahlawan kelahiran pegunungan yang bertempur dari atas gajah. Ia terjungkal dari keretanya—beserta kuda-kuda, sais, busur, dan panjinya—menghantam bumi laksana pohon raksasa yang direnggut angin badai.
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.