Shloka 61
निषसाद रथोपस्थे वैक्लव्यं च परं॑ ययौ । महाराज! वह महातेजस्वी नाराच उस ब्राह्मणके कंधेपर जा लगा। अभश्वत्थामा युद्धस्थलमें उस बाणके वेगसे व्याकुल हो रथकी बैठकमें धम्मसे बैठ गया और अत्यन्त मूर्च्छित हो गया ।। ६० ई ।। तत: कर्णो महाराज व्याक्षिपद् विजयं धनु:,राजराजेश्वर! तत्पश्चात् कर्णने समरांगणमें कुपित हो अर्जुनकी ओर बारंबार देखते हुए विजय नामक धनुषकी टंकार की। वह महासमरमें अर्जुनके साथ द्वैरथ युद्धकी अभिलाषा करता था
sañjaya uvāca | niṣasāda rathopasthe vaiklavyaṃ ca paraṃ yayau | mahārāja! sa mahātejasvī nārācaḥ tasya brāhmaṇasya skandhe ’bhilagnaḥ | aśvatthāmā yuddhasthale tasya bāṇavegena vyākulaḥ san rathasya āsane dhamm iti niṣasāda, atyantaṃ ca mūrcchitaḥ || tataḥ karṇo mahārāja vyākṣipad vijayaṃ dhanuḥ | rājarājeśvara! tataḥ paścāt karṇaḥ samaraṅgaṇe kupito ’rjunaṃ prati punaḥ punaḥ paśyan vijaya-nāmnaḥ dhanuṣaḥ ṭaṅkāram akarot | sa mahāsamare ’rjunena saha dvairatha-yuddhasya abhīlāṣī babhūva ||
Sañjaya said: He sank down upon the chariot-seat and fell into extreme helplessness. That blazing nārāca arrow struck the brahmin on the shoulder; and Aśvatthāmā, shaken by its force on the battlefield, collapsed heavily onto the chariot-bench and became deeply unconscious. Then, O King—O lord of kings—Karṇa seized his bow named Vijaya; enraged in the arena of war and again and again looking toward Arjuna, he made the Vijaya resound with its twang, longing for a chariot-to-chariot duel with Pārtha in that great battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the kṣatriya ideal of steadfastness and the public signaling of intent in war: even amid chaos and injury, warriors assert resolve (through the bow’s ṭaṅkāra) and seek regulated forms of combat (dvairatha), showing how martial ethics tries to impose order on violence.
A powerful narāca arrow strikes a brahmin on the shoulder, and Aśvatthāmā—disturbed by the arrow’s force—collapses unconscious on the chariot-seat. Immediately after, Karṇa, angered, brandishes his bow Vijaya, repeatedly looks toward Arjuna, and twangs the bow to declare his desire for a direct chariot-duel with him.