Shloka 17
नरेश्वर! शत्रुविजयी अर्जुन भौंहें टेढ़ी करके कटाक्षपूर्वक देखते हुए कर्णपर जिन-जिन बाणोंका प्रहार करते थे, पाण्डुपुत्र अर्जुनके चलाये हुए उन सभी बाणसमूहोंको सूतपुत्र कर्ण शीघ्र ही नष्ट कर देता था ।। ततोअस्त्रमाग्नेयममित्रसा धनं मुमोच कर्णाय महेन्द्रसूनु: । भूम्यन्तरिक्षे च दिशो<र्कमार्ग प्रावृत्य देहो5स्य बभूव दीप्त:,तब इन्द्रकुमार अर्जुनने कर्णपर शत्रुनाशक आग्नेयास्त्रका प्रयोग किया। उस आगेनेयास्त्रका स्वरूप पृथ्वी, आकाश, दिशा तथा सूर्यके मार्गको व्याप्त करके वहाँ प्रज्वलित हो उठा
nareśvara! śatruvijayī arjuna bhauṁheṁ ṭeṛhī karke kaṭākṣapūrvaka dekhate hue karṇapara jin-jin bāṇoṁkā prahāra karate the, pāṇḍuputra arjunake calāye hue un sabhī bāṇasamūhoṁko sūtaputra karṇa śīghra hī naṣṭa kara detā thā || tato 'stram āgneyam amitrāsahanaṁ mumoca karṇāya mahendrasūnuḥ | bhūmyantarikṣe ca diśo 'rkamārgaṁ prāvṛtya deho 'sya babhūva dīptaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O king, Arjuna—the conqueror of foes—frowning and casting sharp, sidelong glances, kept striking Karṇa with volleys of arrows; yet Karṇa, the charioteer’s son, swiftly destroyed every cluster of arrows released by Pāṇḍu’s son. Then Indra’s son Arjuna discharged against Karṇa the enemy-crushing Agneya weapon. Spreading over the earth and the mid-sky, covering the directions and even the path of the sun, its blazing form flared up in fierce radiance.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the ethical tension of war: even unmatched personal skill (Karṇa neutralizing volleys) can be met by escalating force through divine weapons. It implicitly raises the kṣatriya dilemma—how far one may intensify violence to fulfill duty—suggesting that power must be weighed against the wider consequences of unleashing overwhelming astras.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Arjuna repeatedly attacks Karṇa with arrow volleys, but Karṇa quickly destroys them. In response, Arjuna deploys the Agneya Astra, whose fiery manifestation spreads across earth and sky, covering the directions and the sun’s path with blazing radiance.