Shloka 493

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

Devanagari script

सुवर्णविकृतान्‌ क्रुद्ध: प्राहिणोद्‌ वधकाड्क्षया । कर्णने कुपित होकर भीमसेनके वधकी इच्छासे सुनारके माँजे हुए सुवर्णभूषित तीखे बाणोंका प्रहार किया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca | suvarṇa-vikṛtān kruddhaḥ prāhiṇod vadhakāṅkṣayā |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Enraged and intent on killing, Karṇa launched a volley of razor-sharp arrows—gold-adorned and finely finished—aimed at Bhīmasena.

Word by Word

• सुवर्णविकृतान्: gold-adorned / fashioned with gold
• सुवर्णविकृतान्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुवर्ण-विकृत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

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

• प्राहिणोत्: sent / discharged
• प्राहिणोत्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-हि (धातु: हि/हिणोति)
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• वधकाङ्क्षया: with the desire to kill
• वधकाङ्क्षया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध-काङ्क्षा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• gold-adorned arrows (suvarṇa-bhūṣita bāṇāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how anger (krodha) and the craving to kill can dominate judgment in war, converting excellence in arms and ornamentation into tools of destruction; it implicitly warns that inner passions shape outward action and its moral weight.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, furious, shoots finely crafted, gold-adorned, sharp arrows at Bhīmasena with the explicit intention of killing him, intensifying the duel’s lethality.