Shloka 18
रथा हीना महाराज रथिभिवाजिभिस्तथा । गन्धर्वनगराकारा दृश्यन्ते सम सहस्रश:,महाराज! गन्धर्वनगरोंके समान सहस्रों विशाल रथ रथियों और घोड़ोंसे हीन दिखायी देने लगे
rathā hīnā mahārāja rathibhivājibhistathā | gandharvanagarākārā dṛśyante sama sahasraśaḥ ||
三阇耶说道：大王啊，如今千乘巨大战车显现于前——既无御者，亦无战马——恰似乾闼婆的幻城一般虚渺。
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.