Shloka 19
तस्यास्यतस्तानभिनिध्नतश्ष ज्याबाणहस्तस्य धनुःस्वनेन । साद्रिद्रुमा स्यात् पृथिवी विशीर्णे- त्यतीव मत्वा जनता व्यषीदत्,कर्ण बाण छोड़ता और शत्रुओंका संहार करता जा रहा था। उसके हाथमें धनुषकी प्रत्यंचा और बाण सदा मौजूद रहते थे। उसके धनुषकी टंकारसे पर्वतों और वृक्षोंसहित यह सारी पृथ्वी विदीर्ण हो जायगी, ऐसा समझकर सब लोग अत्यन्त खिन्न हो उठे थे
tasyāsyatas tān abhinighnataś ca jyā-bāṇa-hastasya dhanuḥ-svanena | sādridrumā syāt pṛthivī viśīrṇeti atīva matvā janatā vyaṣīdat ||
Sañjaya said: As he kept shooting and striking down those foes—his hands ever furnished with bowstring and arrows—the thunderous twang of his bow made the people despair. Thinking, “The very earth, with its mountains and trees, will be torn apart by that sound,” they sank into deep dejection.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked martial power and the spectacle of violence can crush collective morale: fear spreads not only through physical harm but through the perceived inevitability of destruction. Ethically, it points to war’s capacity to overwhelm society with despair, even before outcomes are decided.
Sañjaya describes Karna relentlessly shooting and killing opponents. The loud twang of Karna’s bow is portrayed as so terrifying that onlookers imagine the earth itself—mountains and trees included—might split apart, and the people fall into deep dejection.