Shloka 12
Karṇa-vadha-pratyaya: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Verification of Karṇa’s Fall (कर्णवध-प्रत्ययः)
इषून् धनूंषि खड्गांश्व चक्राणि च परश्चधान् | सायुधानुद्यतान् बाहून् विविधान्यायुधानि च
iṣūn dhanūṃṣi khaḍgāṃś ca cakrāṇi ca paraśvadhān | sāyudhān udyatān bāhūn vividhāny āyudhāni ca
قال سنجيا: «كانت هناك سهامٌ وأقواسٌ وسيوفٌ وأسلحةٌ قرصية، وكذلك فؤوسُ حرب؛ وأذرعٌ مرفوعةٌ وقد تسلّحت سلفًا، تحمل شتّى أصناف السلاح.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than doctrinal: it underscores the intensity and immediacy of battle—combatants are already armed and their weapons are raised. Ethically, it frames the war as a fully engaged kṣatriya conflict where preparedness and resolve dominate the scene.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield situation: a vivid array of weapons—arrows, bows, swords, chakras, and axes—along with warriors’ arms lifted and ready, conveying that the fighting has reached a heightened, imminent strike-ready moment.