Shloka 78
आगच्छतस्तान् विशिखैरनेकै- व्यष्टम्भयत् सूतपुत्र: कृतास्त्र: । तब जैसे मेघोंके समूह आकाशमें सूर्यको ढक लेते हैं, उसी प्रकार सोमकोंने अपने बाणोंद्वारा कर्णको आच्छादित कर दिया; परंतु सूतपुत्र अस्त्रविद्याका महान् पण्डित था, उसने अनेक बाणोंद्वारा अपने ऊपर आक्रमण करते हुए सोमकोंको जहाँ-के-तहाँ रोक दिया ।। तैरस्तमस्त्र विनिहत्य सर्व जघान तेषां रथवाजिनागान्
sañjaya uvāca |
āgacchatas tān viśikhair anekair vyaṣṭambhayat sūtaputraḥ kṛtāstraḥ |
tathā yathā meghagaṇā nabhasi sūryam āvṛṇvanti, tathā somakāḥ śaraiḥ karṇam ācchādayāṃ cakruḥ |
sa tu sūtaputraḥ astravidyāyāṃ mahāpāṇḍitaḥ san bahubhiḥ śaraiḥ svopari praharataḥ somakān yathāsthānaṃ nyavārayat ||
tair astraṃ vinihatya sarvaṃ jaghāna teṣāṃ rathavāji-nāgān ||
Sanjaya said: As the Somakas advanced, the son of the charioteer—fully trained in weapons—checked them with countless arrows. Just as masses of clouds in the sky veil the sun, so the Somakas covered Karna with their shafts. Yet Karna, a master of the science of arms, held those attackers in their very places with a storm of arrows; and after neutralizing all their missiles, he struck down their chariots, horses, and elephants. The passage highlights the grim ethic of battlefield skill: prowess becomes a shield against overwhelming force, even as the war’s momentum turns living beings and war-animals into instruments and casualties.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores a battlefield ethic: disciplined mastery (astravidyā) can withstand even a collective onslaught, yet that very mastery also amplifies destruction. It invites reflection on how excellence in a craft, when yoked to war, becomes both protection and a means of large-scale harm.
As the Somaka warriors surge forward and shower Karna with arrows—likened to clouds covering the sun—Karna halts their advance with counter-arrows, neutralizes their missiles, and then strikes down their war-assets: chariots, horses, and elephants.