Shloka 24
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 2: Karṇa’s lament, vow, and battle preparation after Bhīṣma’s fall
उपासज्रान् षोडश योजयन्तु धनूंषि दिव्यानि तथा55हरन्तु । असींश्व शक्तीश्व गदाश्न गुर्वी: शड्खं च जाम्बूनदचित्रनालम्,“मेरे सेवक बाणोंसे भरे हुए सोलह तरकश रख दें, दिव्य धनुष ले आ दें, बहुत-से खडगों, शक्तियों, भारी गदाओं तथा सुवर्णजटित विचित्र नालवाले शंखको भी ले आकर रख दें
upāsajran ṣoḍaśa yojayantu dhanūṃṣi divyāni tathā harantu | asīṃś ca śaktīṃś ca gadāś ca gurvīḥ śaṅkhaṃ ca jāmbūnada-citra-nālam ||
Sañjaya said: “Let my attendants set out sixteen quivers filled with arrows; bring the celestial bows as well. Bring also many swords, spears, and heavy maces, and place here the conch whose shaft is wondrously fashioned and inlaid with Jāmbūnada gold.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war is approached as disciplined preparation and display of martial resources; ethically, it points to the tension between organized kṣatriya duty and the grave moral consequences of escalating violence.
Sañjaya reports a command to attendants to lay out extensive weaponry—sixteen quivers, divine bows, swords, spears, heavy maces, and an ornate gold-inlaid conch—signaling immediate readiness for battle and the intensification of the conflict in Droṇa Parva.