Shloka 54
अभ्यवर्षच्छरै: कर्ण: पर्जन्य इव वृष्टिमान् उसके सारे घोड़ोंको मारकर और रथके सैकड़ों टुकड़े करके कर्णने वर्षा करनेवाले मेघकी भाँति बाणोंकी वृष्टि आरम्भ कर दी ।। ५३ $ ।। न चास्यासीदनिर्भिन्न गात्रे द्यडुगुलमन्तरम्
sañjaya uvāca | abhyavarṣac charaiḥ karṇaḥ parjanya iva vṛṣṭimān | na cāsyāsīd anirbhinnaṃ gātre dvy-aṅgulam antaram ||
Sañjaya said: Karṇa poured down a rain of arrows like a cloud heavy with rain. So unrelenting was his assault that on the warrior’s body there was not even a space of two fingers left unpierced.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the terrifying efficiency of martial skill when driven to extremes: in war, valor can become sheer devastation. Ethically, it invites reflection on how dharma in battle (kṣātra-dharma) can slide into relentless harm, and how poetic praise of prowess coexists with the tragedy of violence.
Sanjaya describes Karna unleashing an overwhelming barrage of arrows, compared to a rain-cloud pouring down. The attack is so dense that the opponent’s body is depicted as having no two-finger-wide space left without being struck.