Shloka 16
यानर्जुन: सभ्रुकुटीकटाक्षं कर्णाय राजन्नसृजज्जितारि: । तान् सायकैग्र॑सते सूतपुत्र: क्षिप्तान् क्षिप्तान् पाण्डवस्याशु संघान्
yān arjunaḥ sabhrukuṭīkaṭākṣaṁ karṇāya rājan asṛjad jitāriḥ | tān sāyakair grasate sūtaputraḥ kṣiptān kṣiptān pāṇḍavasyāśu saṅghān ||
Sañjaya said: O King, the volleys of arrows that Arjuna—brow knit and glance fierce—shot toward Karṇa, the conqueror of foes, were swiftly swallowed up by Karṇa, the charioteer’s son, with his own shafts, again and again, as the Pāṇḍava hurled them forth in clusters.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of steadfastness and skill under pressure: fierce intent must be matched by disciplined mastery. Ethically, it portrays how rivalry in war intensifies through immediate retaliation—each side answers force with force—underscoring the tragic momentum of battle even among great heroes.
Sañjaya describes a moment in the Arjuna–Karṇa duel: Arjuna, glaring with knitted brows, releases volleys at Karṇa; Karṇa rapidly counters by intercepting and overwhelming those incoming shafts with his own arrows, repeatedly neutralizing the Pāṇḍava’s missile-clusters.