Shloka 21

कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line

Devanagari script

ईषा नक्षत्रवंशश्व॒ युग: कृतयुगो5भवत्‌

Transliteration

īṣā nakṣatravaṃśaś ca yugaḥ kṛtayugo 'bhavat | nakṣatrāṇāṃ samūha īṣādaṇḍo babhūva ca | vāsukir nāgarājo 'sya rathasya kūbaro 'bhavat | himavān apaskaro 'bhūd vindhyaś cādhārakāṣṭhavat | udayācalaś cāstācalaś ca tayor devair mahātmabhiḥ | cakrapratiṣṭhākāṣṭhāni kṛtāni rathasaṃyuge ||

Translation

دُریودھن بولا— “اُس کیہانی رتھ کی ایشا (ڈنڈا) ستاروں کی قطار بن گئی اور جُوا کِرتَیُگ کا روپ دھار گیا۔ ستاروں کا مجموعہ ایشا-دَण्ड بن گیا۔ ناگ راج واسُکی اس کا کُوبَر (کیل) بن گیا۔ ہمالیہ اپسکر (پیچھے کی آڑی لکڑی) ہوا اور وِندھیا آدھار-کاشٹھ (سہارا دینے والی لکڑی) بنا۔ اُدیہ آچل اور اَست آچل—ان دونوں کو اُن برتر دیوتاؤں نے پہیوں کے سہارے کی لکڑی کے طور پر بنا دیا۔”

Word by Word

• īṣā: pole-shaft (of a chariot/yoke)
• īṣā: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: īṣā
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• nakṣatra-vaṃśaḥ: the lineage/cluster of stars (constellation-group)
• nakṣatra-vaṃśaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: nakṣatra-vaṃśa
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca

• yugaḥ: yoke
• yugaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuga
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• kṛta-yugaḥ: the Kṛta-yuga (Golden Age)
• kṛta-yugaḥ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: kṛta-yuga
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• abhavat: became/was
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū
• Form: Imperfect, 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• Nakṣatras (constellations/stars)
• Kṛta-yuga
• Vāsuki
• Nāgarāja (serpent-king)
• Himālaya
• Vindhya
• Udayācala
• Astācala
• Ratha (chariot)
• Yoke (yuga)
• Chariot-pole (īṣā)
• Wheel supports (cakrapratiṣṭhākāṣṭha)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses cosmic-chariot imagery to magnify a martial enterprise by mapping parts of a chariot onto the universe (stars, yugas, mountains, serpent-king). Ethically, it reflects how power and ambition can seek legitimacy through grand mythic symbolism—an epic reminder that rhetorical grandeur does not itself establish dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana describes a wondrous, cosmic-scale chariot construction: constellations become the pole, the Kṛta-yuga becomes the yoke, Vāsuki becomes the fastening pin, and great mountains become structural timbers and wheel-bases. The passage functions as an elevated description (utprekṣā-like) to intensify the scene’s mythic atmosphere in the Karṇa Parva war context.