Shloka 15
Śalya-parva Adhyāya 26 — Duryodhana’s remnant formation and rapid engagements
ते हता न््यपतन् भूमौ स्वन्दनेभ्यो महारथा: । वसन्ते पुष्पशबला निकृत्ता इव किंशुका:,उन बाणोंद्वारा मारे गये वे तीनों महारथी वसन्त-ऋतुमें कटे हुए पुष्पयुक्त पलाशके वृक्षोंकी भाँति रथोंसे पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े
te hatā nyapatan bhūmau svandane-bhyo mahā-rathāḥ | vasante puṣpa-śabalā nikṛttā iva kiṃśukāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Struck down, those great chariot-warriors fell to the earth from their own chariots, like kiṃśuka (palāśa) trees—bright with spring blossoms—when cut down. The image underscores the stark transience of martial glory: even the most eminent fighters, once severed by the force of weapons, collapse as swiftly as flowering trees felled in season.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly eminence: even celebrated warriors (mahārathas) can be brought down instantly. The spring-flowering kiṃśuka, beautiful yet easily felled, becomes a moral image for the impermanence of power and the sobering cost of war.
Sañjaya reports that the great chariot-warriors, struck by arrows, are killed and tumble from their chariots onto the ground. He intensifies the scene with a simile: they fall like blossom-laden palāśa trees cut down in spring.