Shloka 8
अध्याय ६० — कर्णस्य पाञ्चाल-सोमक-निग्रहः
Karna’s Suppression of the Panchala–Somaka Forces
जिघांसन्तो नरव्याप्रा: समन््तात् तव वाहिनीम् | अभ्यद्रवन्त संक्रुद्धा:समरे जितकाशिन:
jighāṃsanto naravyāprāḥ samantāt tava vāhinīm | abhyadravanta saṃkruddhāḥ samare jitakāśinaḥ || bhīmasenaḥ sātyakiḥ śikhaṇḍī janamejayaḥ balavān dhṛṣṭadyumnaś ca sarve prabhadrakagaṇāś ca—ete sarve puruṣasiṃhā vīrāḥ samarāṅgaṇe vijayenollasitāḥ krodhabharitāḥ tava senāṃ jighāṃsayantaḥ samantāt tām abhyapatanta ||
Sañjaya said: Eager to slay and intent on battle, they rushed from all sides upon your army. Inflamed with wrath and exulting in the prospect of victory in the fight, Bhīmasena, Sātyaki, Śikhaṇḍin, Janamejaya, the mighty Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and all the Prabhadraka warriors—those lion-like heroes—fell upon your forces from every direction, driven by the will to destroy them.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical ambiguity of war: even when warriors fight under a banner of justice or duty, their actions can be fueled by krodha (wrath) and the urge to kill. It implicitly warns that passions can overtake discernment, and that victory-mindedness may intensify violence beyond mere duty.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that leading Pāṇḍava-side champions—Bhīma, Sātyaki, Śikhaṇḍin, Janamejaya, Dhṛṣṭadyumna, and the Prabhadrakas—charge from all directions against the Kaurava army, emboldened and enraged, seeking to cut down the opposing host.