Shloka 17
Karṇa’s Camp-Council Discourse: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament, Sañjaya’s Counsel, and Karṇa’s Request for Śalya
Book 8, Chapter 22
ततः क्रुद्धो महाराज सहदेव: प्रतापवान् | समाधत्त शरं घोर मृत्युकालान्तकोपमम्
tataḥ kruddho mahārāja sahadevaḥ pratāpavān | samādhatta śaraṃ ghoraṃ mṛtyukālāntakopamam ||
Sañjaya said: Then Sahadeva, blazing with wrath and valor, O King, set an arrow upon his bow—terrible in its force, like Death itself at the end of time.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in a dharma-framed war, inner emotions like anger can surge, yet the warrior’s action remains channeled through trained discipline (preparing the arrow). It also invokes Kāla/Mṛtyu imagery to remind that battle is governed by mortality and the inexorable force of time.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Sahadeva, enraged, readies a dreadful arrow—described as deathlike in power—indicating an imminent, decisive strike in the ongoing combat of the Karṇa Parva.