Shloka 2036
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
दिशश्न प्रदिशश्वैव परिवारो रथस्य तु । मन्दराचल उस रथका धुरा था, महानदी गंगा जंघा (धुरेका आश्रय) बनी थीं, दिशाएँ और विदिशाएँ उस रथका आवरण थीं
diśaś ca pradiśaś caiva parivāro rathasya tu | mandarācalaḥ asya rathasya dhurā āsīt, mahānadī gaṅgā jaṅghā (dhureka-āśrayaḥ) babhūva; diśaḥ ca vidiśaḥ asya rathasya āvaraṇāni āsan |
Ipinagpatuloy ni Duryodhana ang maringal na paglalarawan: “Ang mga direksiyon at mga pagitan nitong direksiyon ang naging balangkas na pumapalibot at pantakip ng karwahe. Ang Bundok Mandara ang naging poste ng pamatok, at ang dakilang ilog na Gaṅgā ang naging ‘hita’—ang sandigang sumasalo sa pamatok.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how rhetorical grandeur can be used to legitimize violence: by casting a war-chariot in cosmic terms, the speaker implies that his cause is as vast and ordered as the universe. Ethically, it warns that power and poetic imagery do not equal dharma; moral clarity must not be replaced by self-glorifying symbolism.
Duryodhana is describing an immense, almost universe-sized chariot using mythic and geographic elements—directions as its enclosure, Mount Mandara as its yoke, and the river Gaṅgā as a supporting limb—continuing a stylized depiction meant to inspire awe and confidence in the midst of the Karṇa Parva battle context.