Shloka 6

Devanagari script

आखण्डलथनु:प्रख्यमुल्लिखन्तमिवाम्बरम्‌ । पश्य कर्ण समायान्तं धार्तराष्ट्रप्रियेषिणम्‌

Transliteration

ākhaṇḍala-dhanuḥ-prakhyaṃ mullikhantam ivāmbaram | paśya karṇa samāyāntaṃ dhārtarāṣṭra-priyeṣiṇam ||

Translation

Sanjaya said: “Behold, O Karna—he is coming toward you as if he were scoring the very sky, famed for a bow like that of Ākhaṇḍala (Indra). He advances with a single aim: to do what is dear to the son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra.”

Word by Word

• आखण्डल-धनुः-प्रख्यं: resembling Indra's bow
• आखण्डल-धनुः-प्रख्यं: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आखण्डलधनुःप्रख्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उल्लिखन्तम्: scraping/etching (as if)
• उल्लिखन्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: उद् + लिख् (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular, शतृ (present active participle)

• इव: as if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अम्बरम्: the sky
• अम्बरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्बर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• पश्य: see!
• Type: Verb
• Root: पश् (धातु)
• Form: Imperative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कर्ण: O Karna
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• समायान्तम्: approaching/coming near
• समायान्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + आ + या (धातु)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular, शतृ (present active participle)

• धार्तराष्ट्र-प्रिय-एषिणम्: seeking what is dear to the Dhartarashtras (Kauravas)
• धार्तराष्ट्र-प्रिय-एषिणम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धार्तराष्ट्रप्रियेषिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karna
• Ākhaṇḍala (Indra)
• Dhārtarāṣṭra (Duryodhana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical tension between personal virtue and pledged allegiance: a warrior’s prowess is celebrated, yet his driving motive is framed as serving what is “dear” to his patron (Duryodhana). It invites reflection on how loyalty and obligation can steer heroic power toward contested ends.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, points out to Karṇa an approaching warrior whose bow is likened to Indra’s and whose advance is motivated by devotion to the Dhārtarāṣṭra—i.e., Duryodhana—signaling an imminent martial encounter.