Shloka 38
कर्णपर्व — पञ्चदशोऽध्यायः | Karṇa Parva, Chapter 15: Pāṇḍya’s Advance and Aśvatthāmā’s Counterstroke
वधं प्राप्तौ मन््यते नौ प्रावेश्य शरवेश्मनि । एषो5स्मि हन्मि संकल्पं शिक्षया च बलेन च
vadhaprāptau manyate nau prāveśya śaraveśmani | eṣo 'smi hanmi saṅkalpaṃ śikṣayā ca balena ca ||
Sañjaya said: “He imagines that, having hemmed us in within a ring of arrows, he has already brought about our death. But I am here—I shall shatter this resolve of his by my martial training and by my strength.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior ethic of meeting intimidation with disciplined skill and inner resolve: confidence should rest on training (śikṣā) and strength (bala), not on the enemy’s display of force.
In the midst of battle, an opponent believes he has effectively trapped and doomed two warriors by surrounding them with a barrage or ring of arrows. The speaker counters this assumption, declaring he will break the enemy’s plan through superior training and power.