Shloka 26
मध्यं गत इवादित्यो यो न शक्यो निरीक्षितुम्,पुरुषसिंह! तुम्हारे महामनस्वी श्रेष्ठ योद्धा दोपहरके तपते हुए सूर्यकी भाँति कर्णकी ओर देख भी नहीं सकते। जैसे शरद्-ऋतुके निर्मल आकाशमें सूर्य अपनी सहस्रों किरणें बिखेरता है, उसी प्रकार कर्ण युद्धमें अपने बाणोंका जाल-सा बिछा देता है
madhyaṃ gata ivādityo yo na śakyo nirīkṣitum | puruṣasiṃha! tumhāre mahāmanasvī śreṣṭha yoddhā dopaharake tapate hue sūryakī bhānti karṇakī ora dekh bhī nahīṃ sakate | yathā śarad-ṛtuke nirmala ākāśameṃ sūrya apanī sahasroṃ kiraṇeṃ bikheratā hai, tathā karṇa yuddhameṃ apane bāṇoṃkā jāla-sā bichā detā hai ||
Vāyu said: “Like the sun standing at midday—impossible to gaze upon—so is Karṇa. O lion among men, even your high-souled, foremost warriors cannot bear to look toward him, as one cannot stare into the blazing noon sun. And just as, in the clear sky of autumn, the sun scatters its countless rays, so does Karṇa in battle spread forth a net-like web of arrows.”
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how extraordinary power on the battlefield can inspire awe and fear, using the ethical lens of kṣatriya warfare: prowess must be recognized realistically, and opponents must not underestimate a warrior whose strength overwhelms ordinary perception—like the midday sun.
Vāyudeva is describing Karṇa’s terrifying dominance in battle. He compares Karṇa to the noon sun that cannot be stared at, and to the autumn sun scattering rays—likening those rays to Karṇa’s dense volleys of arrows that spread across the battlefield like a net.