Shloka 50
अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
तेषामाददत: प्राणानासीदाधिरथेरवपु:
teṣām ādadatāḥ prāṇān āsīd ādhirather vapuḥ
Sañjaya sprach: Während er ihnen das Leben nahm, wurde der eigene Leib des Sohnes Ādhirathas (Karna) zu einem furchterregenden Werkzeug des Todes—ein Zeichen des düsteren Drängens der Schlacht, in der auf dem Feld der Waffen die Tüchtigkeit herrscht, nicht das Erbarmen.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh ethical reality of war: once battle is fully joined, a warrior’s embodied power can become synonymous with death-dealing force, highlighting the tragic tension between kṣatriya duty and the human cost of violence.
Sañjaya describes Karna in the midst of combat, portraying him as actively slaying opponents—“taking their lives”—and emphasizing how his very presence (vapuḥ) appears as a formidable, lethal force on the battlefield.