There is a verse in Mahabharata, shAlyaparva (9)
अथावतीर्णे भूतानामीश्वरे सुमहात्मनि |
कपिरन्तर्दधे दिव्यो ध्वजो गाण्डीवधन्वनः ||१२||
When the Lord of All Being, the Great Kr^shNa, stepped on to the ground leaving Prince aRjuna’s VaruNa-given chariot, the Divine Monkey HanoomAn disappeared from the Chariot’s majestic Flag Pole.
स दग्धो द्रोणकर्णाभ्यां दिव्यैरस्त्रैर्महारथः |
अथ दीप्तोऽग्निना ह्याशु प्रजज्वाल महीपते ||१३||
(The narrator says,) then, O King, that chariot burst into flames having been already burned to nothing by the Divine Missiles hurled at it by superhuman Bheeshma, KaRNa, drONa, etc. during war.
Riddle: Then how could Prince aRjuna did all his warfare sitting in the chariot for 18 days ?
At the end of the MahAbhArata War, the victorious Prince aRjuna was driven back to his tent by his charioteer Kr^shNa. The prince was full of pride about his own power which had defeated and destroyed the enemies!
Then came an anti-climax from aRjuna’s point of view in BhagavAn PARthasArathy’s words.
At the tent, BhagavAn asked aRjuna to take up all his weapons and alight from the chariot first. When aRjuna had done that, BhagavAn himself got off. Immediately SRee rAmadAsa disappeared from the flag pole where he had been sitting protecting the Middle Prince of the PANDava brotherhood during the war.
Then with an ear-splitting sound of a massive explosion, the chariot burst into flames. Prince aRjuna could not believe his eyes. His mighty chariot, nandeeghOsham, the gift of VaruNa himself lay on the ground in a heap of gray ashes! He turned to BhagavAn for an explanation! Here too SaraNAgati is the best method — total surrender to the Divine Will!
Lord Kr^shNa said: “O mighty Prince! Your celebrated chariot, nandighOsha, VaruNa dEva’s gift to you had already been turned into ashes by the missiles of warriors such as drONa and Bheeshma who had divine powers. But my YOgabalam and the presence of BhagavAn rAmadAsa on the flag pole of your chariot had annulled the effect of those missiles and till the end our joined anugraham kept your chariot in tact.
“As soon as your mission was over I decided to step down and so did SReemad An^janEya, and those actions took away the magical intactness of the vehicle. Now it lay in ashes proving to you that your belief that you are the winner of the war is an illusion. Yes, you are a formidable warrior equipped with BhagavAn MahAdEva’s PASupatAstRam, and other weaponry, but without Me and VAyuputRa you would have been annihilated by Bheeshma, drONa, and KaRNa in a matter of moments.”
BhagavAn’s amr^tavANi removed Prince aRjuna’s last traces of sva-kaRtr^tvAbhimAnam and he lay at BhagavAn’s feet in a sAshTAn*ga-pRaNAmam!
Note: In Southern Recension version, the verses are listed in shAlyaparva(9), shlokAS 12-13 are available in adhyAya 63; in BORI critical edition, it is adhyAya 61.)