Shloka 10
Śalya’s Objection to Sārathya and Duryodhana’s Conciliation (शल्यमन्यु-प्रशमनम् / Sārathyāṅgīkāra)
तस्य कर्णो धनुश्छित्त्वा स्वर्णपुडुखै: शिलाशितै: । त्रिंशता परमेष्वास: शरै: पाण्डवमार्दयत्
tasya karṇo dhanuś chittvā svarṇapuṅkhaiḥ śilāśitaiḥ | triṃśatā parameṣvāsaḥ śaraiḥ pāṇḍavam ārdayat ||
Sañjaya said: “Karṇa, the supreme archer, cut down his opponent’s bow with stone-whetted arrows fitted with golden feathers; then, with thirty shafts, he struck and tormented the Pāṇḍava (Nakula), pressing the attack in the fierce ethics of battlefield prowess where skill and resolve decide the moment.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma in its battlefield form: mastery of skill, decisive action, and unwavering resolve. Ethically, it reflects the epic’s realism—war rewards precision and initiative, while the narrator (Sañjaya) frames events without moralizing, leaving judgment to the broader dharma-discourse of the Mahābhārata.
Karna breaks his opponent’s bow using sharp, golden-fletched arrows and immediately follows up by striking the Pāṇḍava (understood here as Nakula) with thirty arrows, intensifying the pressure and demonstrating tactical dominance.