Shloka 18

Devanagari script

रथा हीना महाराज रथिभिवाजिभिस्तथा । गन्धर्वनगराकारा दृश्यन्ते सम सहस्रश:,महाराज! गन्धर्वनगरोंके समान सहस्रों विशाल रथ रथियों और घोड़ोंसे हीन दिखायी देने लगे

Transliteration

rathā hīnā mahārāja rathibhivājibhistathā | gandharvanagarākārā dṛśyante sama sahasraśaḥ ||

Translation

اے مہاراج! رتھیوں اور گھوڑوں سے خالی ہزاروں عظیم رتھ گندھرو کے شہروں کی مانند فریبِ نظر بن کر دکھائی دینے لگے۔

Word by Word

• रथाः: chariots
• रथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• हीनाः: devoid (of)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हीन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• रथिभिः: with charioteers/warriors in chariots
• रथिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रथि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• वाजिभिः: with horses
• वाजिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वाजि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• तथा: also/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• गन्धर्वनगराकाराः: having the appearance of a Gandharva-city (illusory city)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गन्धर्वनगराकार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दृश्यन्ते: are seen/appear
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Present, Atmanepada (passive-like sense), Third, Plural

• समम्: all around/everywhere; equally
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: समम्

• सहस्रशः: by thousands; in thousands
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्रशस्

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by 'mahārāja')
• chariots
• chariot-warriors/charioteers
• horses
• Gandharvas (as a simile: 'Gandharva-city')

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the fragility of martial glory: even the grandest war-machines become empty, mirage-like forms when life is lost. It implicitly warns that violence strips objects of their intended dharmic purpose and leaves only desolation and unreality in its wake.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene: countless large chariots are seen abandoned—without warriors and without horses—so that they resemble the illusory ‘cities of the Gandharvas,’ a poetic image for something splendid yet unreal and fleeting.