Shloka 33
कर्ण रथवरश्रेष्ठं श्रेष्ठ सर्वधनुष्मताम् । धृतराष्ट्रके महाधनुर्धर पुत्र सम्पूर्ण धनुर्धरों तथा रथियोंमें श्रेष्ठ नरोत्तम कर्णकी भूरि-भूरि प्रशंसा करने लगे ।। तत: कर्णो महाराज ददाह रिपुवाहिनीम्
sañjaya uvāca | karṇa rathavarāśreṣṭhaṃ śreṣṭhaṃ sarvadhanuṣmatām | dhṛtarāṣṭrake mahādhanuḥdhara putra sampūrṇa dhanuḥdharās tathā rathiyo meṃ śreṣṭha narottama karṇakī bhūri-bhūri praśaṃsā karane lage || tataḥ karṇo mahārāja dadāha ripuvāhinīm ||
Sañjaya said: “They began to praise Karṇa again and again—Karṇa, the finest of chariot-warriors, the foremost among all archers—O Dhṛtarāṣṭra. That best of men, your son’s great bowman, complete in the arts of archery and preeminent among the rathīs, was extolled repeatedly. Then Karṇa, O king, set the enemy host ablaze with his arrows, scorching the opposing army.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how public acclaim and martial reputation intensify the momentum of war: praise of a warrior’s excellence (as rathī and master archer) is immediately followed by destructive action. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s tension between valor celebrated as kṣatriya-dharma and the grave human cost of that valor when it ‘burns’ the opposing host.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa is repeatedly lauded as the foremost chariot-warrior and archer among the Kauravas. Immediately afterward, Karṇa launches a fierce assault, metaphorically ‘burning’ the enemy army—i.e., devastating it with his weapons and battlefield skill.