Shloka 12
युधिष्ठिर बोले--धनंजय! पूर्वकालमें जैसे वज्रधारी इन्द्रने महान् असुर वृत्रासुरको मार डाला था, उसी प्रकार युद्धस्थलमें धृष्टद्युम्नद्वारा आचार्य द्रोणके मारे जानेपर युद्धमें अपनी विजयसे निराश हो दीनचित्त कौरव आत्मरक्षाका विचार करके रणभूमिसे भागे जा रहे थे ।। केचिद् भ्रान्तै रथैस्तूर्ण निहतै: पार्ष्णियन्तृभि: । विपताकध्वजच्छन्रै: पार्थिवा: शीर्णकूबरै:,जिनके पार्श्चरक्षक और सारथि मारे गये थे, ध्वजा, पताका और छत्र नष्ट हो गये थे, कूबर टूटकर बिखर गये थे, बैठनेके स्थान चौपट हो चुके थे तथा धुरे, जूए और पहिये भी टूट-फूट गये थे, वैसे रथ भी व्याकुल घोड़ोंसे आकृष्ट हो वहाँ चक्कर लगा रहे थे और उनके द्वारा कुछ विशेष घायल हुए नरेश चारों ओर खिंचे चले जा रहे थे
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca—dhanañjaya! pūrvakāle yathā vajradhara indro mahān asuraṃ vṛtrāsuraṃ jaghāna, tathā yuddhasthale dhṛṣṭadyumnena ācārya-droṇe nihate yuddhe svavijayān nirāśā dīnacittāḥ kauravā ātmārakṣāṃ vicārya raṇabhūmeḥ palāyante sma. kecid bhrāntai rathais tūrṇaṃ nihatāḥ pārṣṇiyantṛbhiḥ, vipatākadhvajacchattraiḥ pārthivāḥ śīrṇakūbaraiḥ.
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)! Just as, in ancient times, Indra the wielder of the thunderbolt slew the great asura Vṛtra, so too—when, on the battlefield, Droṇa the preceptor was killed by Dhṛṣṭadyumna—the Kauravas, their hope of victory shattered, became despondent. Thinking only of self-preservation, they began to flee the field. Some kings were dragged about by chariots that had gone out of control—whose rear-guards and drivers had been slain, whose banners, pennants, and parasols were destroyed, and whose chariot-poles were broken—so that the vehicles, pulled by frantic horses, whirled about in confusion.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the fall of a central leader (Droṇa) can collapse an army’s morale, shifting warriors from pursuit of victory to mere self-preservation. Ethically, it underscores the fragility of confidence in war and the dharmic tension between steadfast duty and panic-driven flight.
After Droṇa is slain by Dhṛṣṭadyumna, the Kaurava forces lose hope and begin to flee. In the chaos, some kings are carried and dragged by damaged, driverless chariots with broken standards and fittings, pulled by frantic horses and spinning out of control.