हतानां वाजिनागानां रथानां च नरैः सह ॥
उपरिष्टाद् अतिक्रान्ताः शैलाभानां सहस्रशः ॥
एतस्मिन्न् अन्तरे वीराव् आवन्त्यौ भ्रातरौ नृप ॥
सहसेनौ समार्छेतां पाण्डवं क्लान्तवाहनम् ॥
ताव् अर्जुनं चतुःषष्ट्या सप्तत्या च जनार्दनम् ॥
शराणां च शतेनाश्वान् अविध्येतां मुदान्वितौ ॥
hatānāṃ vājināgānāṃ rathānāṃ ca naraiḥ saha ||
upariṣṭād atikrāntāḥ śailābhānāṃ sahasraśaḥ ||
etasminn antare vīrāv āvantyau bhrātarau nṛpa ||
sahasenau samārchetāṃ pāṇḍavaṃ klāntavāhanam ||
tāv arjunaṃ catuḥṣaṣṭyā saptatyā ca janārdanam ||
śarāṇāṃ ca śatenāśvān avidhyetāṃ mudānvitau ||
Over the slain horses and elephants, and chariots with their men, mountainous, by the thousands, [the horses] clambered on. In that moment two heroes, the brothers of Avanti, O king, together with their army, fell upon the Pandava, whose horses were weary. They pierced Arjuna with sixty-four arrows, and Janardana with seventy, and the horses with a hundred arrows, filled with joy.
768f0b878335 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:52:56 PM UTC
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The enemies attack precisely when 'klāntavāhanam,' Arjuna's horses are weary — choosing the hour of weakness. It is significant that wrongdoing seeks out the vulnerable moment. The verse teaches that trial often comes in the hour of exhaustion: when strength is spent, then the enemy arrives; and so steadfastness is tested not in the fullness of strength but in weariness — one who does not falter when the horses are tired is truly strong, for he has overcome not fresh but exhausted.