Shloka 113
“जैसे आग अपने पास आये हुए पतंगोंके प्राण ले लेती है, उसी प्रकार शूरवीर कर्ण बाणोंद्वारा अपने ऊपर आक्रमण करनेवाले वेगशाली पांचालोंके प्राण ले रहा है ।। एते द्रवन्ति पठ्चाला द्राव्यन्ते योधिभिर्धुवम् । कर्णेन भरतश्रेष्ठ पश्य पश्य तथाकृतान्,“भरतश्रेष्ठ! देखो, ये पांचालयोद्धा दौड़ रहे हैं। निश्चय ही कर्ण और दूसरे-दूसरे योद्धा उन्हें दौड़ा रहे हैं। देखो, वे कैसी बुरी अवस्थामें पड़ गये हैं?
sañjaya uvāca |
yathāgniḥ samīpāgatān pataṅgānāṃ prāṇān ādattē, tathā śūravīraḥ karṇaḥ śaraiḥ svopari prahartṝn vegavataḥ pāñcālānām prāṇān ādattē ||
ete dravanti pāñcālā drāvyante yodhibhir dhruvam |
karṇena bharataśreṣṭha paśya paśya tathākṛtān ||
Sañjaya said: “As fire takes the lives of moths that fly close to it, so the heroic Karṇa, with his arrows, is taking the lives of the swift Pāñcāla warriors who rush to attack him. Look, O best of the Bharatas—these Pāñcālas are fleeing; surely they are being driven back by Karṇa and the other fighters. Look, look at the plight to which they have been reduced.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the destructive inevitability of unchecked force in war: those who rush into a superior power can be consumed like moths by fire. It also reflects the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension—kṣatriya valor and duty in battle coexist with the stark reality of mass death.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa is cutting down the attacking Pāñcāla fighters with arrows. The Pāñcālas, overwhelmed, are fleeing as Karṇa and other warriors drive them back, and Sañjaya urges the king to ‘see’ their desperate condition.