Shloka 65
Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana
ध्वजं चिच्छेद राधेय: पताकां च व्यपातयत् । सारथि वहाँसे भागकर तुरंत ही युधामन्युके रथपर चढ़ गया। इधर क्रोधमें भरे हुए कालाग्निके समान तेजस्वी राधापुत्र कर्णने भीमसेनका उपहास-सा करते हुए उनकी ध्वजा और पताकाको भी काट गिराया ।। स विधन्वा महाबाहुरथ शक्ति परामृशत्
dhvajaṃ ciccheda rādheyaḥ patākāṃ ca vyapātayat | sārathiḥ vahāṃse bhāgakara turanta hi yudhāmanyuke rathapara caṛha gayā | idhara krodhameṃ bhare hue kālāgnike samāna tejasvī rādhāputra karṇane bhīmasenaka upahāsa-sā karate hue unakī dhvajā aura patākāko bhī kāṭa girāyā || sa vidhannvā mahābāhuratha śaktiṃ parāmṛśat ||
Sañjaya said: Rādheya (Karna) cut down the banner and struck the pennant to the ground. The charioteer fled at once from there and mounted Yudhāmanyu’s chariot. Meanwhile Karna—radiant like the fire of dissolution and filled with wrath, as though mocking Bhīmasena—also severed and brought down his standard and pennant. Then that mighty-armed warrior took up his bow and grasped a spear.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The episode highlights how, in war, honor-symbols (standards and pennants) become targets for psychological domination; it also warns that wrath and mockery intensify violence, showing the ethical tension between kṣatriya valor and the corrosive effects of anger and humiliation.
Karna (Rādheya) cuts down the enemy’s chariot-banner and pennant; the charioteer flees and climbs onto Yudhāmanyu’s chariot. Karna, blazing with anger, derides Bhīma and similarly fells Bhīma’s standard and pennant, then readies further attack by taking up his bow and grasping a spear.