Shloka 21
अथ प्रहस्याधिरथिदव्याक्षिपद् धनुरुत्तमम् । मुमोच निशितान् बाणान् पीडयन् सुमहाबल:,तब अधिरथपुत्र बहाबली कर्णने हँसकर अपने उत्तम धनुषकी टंकार की और उन सबको पीड़ा देते हुए उनपर पैने बाणोंका प्रहार आरम्भ किया
atha prahasyādhirathidavyākṣipad dhanuruttamam | mumoca niśitān bāṇān pīḍayan sumahābalaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Then Karṇa, the mighty son of Adhiratha, laughed aloud, twanged his excellent bow, and began to loose sharp arrows, pressing and tormenting his opponents.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya battlefield ethic where confidence, psychological dominance (laughter and bow-twang), and decisive action (releasing sharp arrows) are integral to warfare; it also implicitly points to the moral weight of power—strength expressed as the capacity to inflict suffering carries karmic and ethical consequence within the epic’s larger dharma-discourse.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa, emboldened and formidable, laughing and sounding his bowstring before launching a volley of keen arrows that harass and wound his adversaries, marking an intensification of the combat in this section of the Karṇa Parva.