Shloka 12

Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana

Devanagari script

तस्मै कर्ण: शतं राजन्निषूणां गार्ध्रवाससाम्‌ । अमर्षी बलवान क्रुद्ध: प्रेषयामास भारत,राजन्‌! भरतनन्दन! अमर्षशील एवं क्रोधमें भरे हुए बलवान्‌ कर्णने भीमसेनपर गीधके पंखवाले सौ बाण चलाये

Transliteration

tasmai karṇaḥ śataṁ rājann iṣūṇāṁ gārdhravāsasām | amarṣī balavān kruddhaḥ preṣayāmāsa bhārata ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: Then, O King, Karṇa—powerful, intolerant of affront, and inflamed with anger—shot at him a hundred arrows, their shafts adorned with vulture-feathers.

Word by Word

• तस्मै: to him
• तस्मै: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• कर्णः: Karna
• कर्णः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शतम्: a hundred
• शतम्: Karma
• Type: Numeral
• Root: शत
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• राजन्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• इषूणाम्: of arrows
• इषूणाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: इषु
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• गार्ध्रवाससाम्: having vulture-feathers (as covering)
• गार्ध्रवाससाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: गार्ध्रवासस्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• अमर्षी: impatient/indignant
• अमर्षी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अमर्षिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• बलवान्: mighty
• बलवान्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बलवत्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• क्रुद्धः: angry
• क्रुद्धः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्रुद्ध
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रेषयामास: sent/shot (forth)
• प्रेषयामास: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-इष्
• Form: Periphrastic Perfect (Liṭ), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• भारत: O Bharata
• भारत: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भारत
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by vocative rājan/bhārata)
• Karṇa
• Bhīmasena (implied by context: target of the arrows)
• arrows (iṣu)
• vulture-feathers (gārdhra-vāsa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) and wounded pride (amarṣa) can override restraint, leading to disproportionate retaliation. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical landscape, such reactions may be valorized as kṣatriya ferocity yet also serve as a warning about the self-propelling nature of wrath in conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates to the king that Karṇa, enraged and powerful, releases a volley of one hundred vulture-feathered arrows at his opponent (contextually Bhīmasena), marking an intense escalation in their battlefield exchange.