Shloka 6
कर्णवधप्रसङ्गः / The Context of Karṇa’s Fall
Krishna’s Dharmic Recollection and the Decisive Astra
अष्टागवामष्ट शतानि बाणान् मया प्रयुद्धस्य वहन्ति तस्य । तांस्तेन मुक्तानहमस्य बाणै- व्यनाशयं वायुरिवा भ्रजालम्
arjuna uvāca |
aṣṭāgavām aṣṭa śatāni bāṇān mayā prayuddhasya vahanti tasya |
tāṁs tena muktān aham asya bāṇair vyanāśayaṁ vāyur ivā bhrajālam ||
Arjuna sprach: „Mitten im Getümmel schleuderte er achthundert Pfeile auf mich—so schnell, als trügen sie acht Rosse. Doch die Geschosse, die er entsandte, zerschmetterte ich mit meinen eigenen Pfeilen, wie der Wind eine Masse lodernden Glanzes zerstreut.“
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined strength in righteous combat: even when faced with overwhelming force, a warrior must respond with skill and steadiness, neutralizing harm without losing composure—an aspect of kṣatriya-dharma in the epic’s battlefield ethics.
Arjuna reports that his opponent shot a massive volley of eight hundred arrows at him, but Arjuna countered by cutting down or destroying those incoming shafts with his own arrows, likening the act to wind dispersing a blazing mass of light.