Shloka 28
Somadatta’s Kṣātra-Dharma Accusation; Night Combat, Māyā, and the Fall of Ghaṭotkaca
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 131
तब भीमसेनको बड़ा क्रोध हुआ। उन्होंने वेगपूर्वक सूतपुत्रकी छातीमें झुकी हुई गाँठवाले तीन बाण धँसा दिये ।। तै: कर्णोडराजत शरैरुरोर्म ध्यगतैस्तदा । महीधर इवोदग्रस्त्रिशुड्रो भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ) ठीक छातीके बीचमें गड़े हुए उन बाणोंद्वारा कर्ण तीन शिखरोंवाले ऊँचे पर्वतके समान सुशोभित हुआ
sañjaya uvāca | tataḥ bhīmasenasya mahān krodho 'bhavat | sa vegapūrvakaṁ sūtaputrasya vakṣasi namrāgraparvaṇas trīn śarān nyadhāt || taiḥ karṇo 'drajata śarair uror madhyagatais tadā | mahīdhara ivodagraḥ triśṛṅgo bharatarṣabha ||
Sanjaya said: Then Bhimasena was seized by a fierce wrath. With a sudden surge of speed he drove three arrows—whose tips were bent at the knot—into the chest of Karna, the son of a charioteer. With those arrows fixed in the very middle of his breast, Karna shone, O bull among the Bharatas, like a lofty mountain rising with three peaks.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how wrath (krodha) intensifies violence in conflict, while also portraying the paradox of battlefield ‘splendor’—endurance and martial prowess are admired even as the ethical cost of anger-driven escalation remains implicit.
Sanjaya reports that Bhima, enraged, shoots three arrows into Karna’s chest. Karna, with the three shafts embedded centrally, appears like a tall mountain with three peaks—an image emphasizing both the impact of the strike and Karna’s steadfastness.