Mahabharata — Karna Parva, Shloka 37
तथा चरन्तं समरे तपन्तमिव भास्करम् | पदातिकोटिसाहस्रा: प्रवरायुधपाणय:
tathā carantaṃ samare tapantam iva bhāskaram | padātikoṭisāhasrāḥ pravarāyudhapāṇayaḥ
Sañjaya sprach: So bewegte er sich im Kampf umher, glühend wie die Sonne, und wurde von unzähligen Tausenden Fußsoldaten umringt, die in ihren Händen erlesene Waffen trugen—angezogen von ehrfürchtigem Schrecken vor seinem Glanz und vom Schwung des Krieges.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how martial excellence and intense energy in war can draw vast forces around a single radiant fighter; ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty (valor in battle) and the destructive scale of warfare.
Sañjaya describes a warrior moving through the battlefield with sun-like brilliance, while innumerable infantry—armed with superior weapons—press around him, conveying the density and ferocity of the ongoing combat.