Shloka 20
आशीविष इव क्रुद्धो जृभितो मन्त्रतेजसा । तथाद्य भाति कर्णो मे शान्तज्वाल इवानल:,जैसे क्रोधमें भरे हुए सर्पको मन्त्रके तेजसे स्तब्ध कर दिया जाय तथा प्रज्वलित आगकी ज्वालाको बुझा दिया जाय, शक्तिसे वंचित हुआ कर्ण भी आज मुझे वैसा ही प्रतीत होता है
āśīviṣa iva kruddho jṛbhito mantratejasā | tathādya bhāti karṇo me śāntajvāla ivānalaḥ ||
Vāyu said: “Just as a venomous serpent, though enraged, is rendered motionless by the power of a mantra, and just as a blazing fire appears when its flames have been quenched, so today Karṇa seems to me—his might checked and his force deprived—like that: present, yet effectively neutralized.”
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that raw power and rage are not absolute: they can be checked by a higher force—here symbolized by mantra-tejas (spiritual potency) and the quenching of flame. Ethically, it suggests that violence and pride are vulnerable to restraint, discipline, and forces beyond mere physical strength.
Vāyudeva comments on Karṇa’s present condition in the battle context, describing him through two similes: an enraged poisonous snake immobilized by mantra-power, and a fire whose flames have been calmed. The point is that Karṇa, though formidable by nature, appears today to have his effectiveness suppressed or his energy blunted.