Shloka 133
कर्णभीमसेनयुद्धम् | Karṇa–Bhīmasena Engagement
Chapter 111
मारुतिं पञ्चविंशत्या भैमसेनिं च पठ्चभि: । उसने इन्द्रके वज्ञकी भाँति घोर टंकार करनेवाले अपने भयंकर धनुषको तानकर भीमसेनको पचीस और उनके पुत्र घटोत्कचको पाँच बाण मारे
mārutiṃ pañcaviṃśatyā bhaimaseniṃ ca pañcabhiḥ | asau indrasya vajrasya bhānti ghora-ṭaṅkāra-karaṃ svakaṃ bhayaṅkaraṃ dhanuḥ tānayetvā bhīmasenaṃ pañcaviṃśatyā ghaṭotkacaṃ ca pañcabhiḥ śaraiḥ vivyādha |
Sañjaya said: Drawing his dreadful bow, roaring terribly like Indra’s thunderbolt, he struck Bhīmasena with twenty-five arrows, and Ghaṭotkaca—Bhīma’s son—with five.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights martial excellence and deliberate action in battle—force is applied with precision (counted arrows), yet the ethical tension remains: skill in violence does not erase the sorrow and moral gravity of war among kin.
Sañjaya reports that a warrior, after drawing his terrifying, loudly twanging bow (likened to Indra’s thunderbolt), shoots Bhīma with twenty-five arrows and then shoots Bhīma’s son Ghaṭotkaca with five arrows.