Shloka 33
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५९
Arjuna Breaks the Encirclement; Bhīma Reinforces
एतान् पश्य च पज्चालान द्राव्यमाणान् महारथान् | शक्रेणेव यथा दैत्यान् हन्यमानान् महाहवे
etān paśya ca pañcālān drāvyamāṇān mahārathān | śakreṇeva yathā daityān hanyamānān mahāhave ||
Sañjaya said: “Behold these great chariot-warriors of the Pañcālas—routed and driven back—being struck down in the great battle, just as the lord of the gods, Śakra (Indra), once drove and slew the Dāityas. See how Karṇa’s onslaught is scattering them.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war magnifies power and terror through vivid comparison: the strong can rout the strong, and even renowned heroes may be reduced to flight. Ethically, it hints at the tragic cost of kṣatriya warfare—valor expressed as destruction—without celebrating cruelty, using the Indra–Dāitya simile to convey overwhelming force.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the battlefield scene where the Pañcāla mahārathas are being driven back and cut down in the great fight, likening their plight to the Dāityas being slain by Indra. In the Karṇa Parva context, this rout is attributed to Karṇa’s fierce assault.