Shloka 803
प्रस्कन्दन्तो बलिना साधुमुक्ति: कर्णेन बाणैर्निहता: प्रसहय । पांचालोंके प्रधान-प्रधान सैनिक तथा दूसरे योद्धा पुनः कर्ण और अर्जुनके बीचमें आ पहुँचे; परंतु बलवान् कर्णने अच्छी तरह छोड़े हुए बाणोंद्वारा उन सबको हठपूर्वक मार गिराया
sañjaya uvāca | praskandanto balinā sādhumuktiḥ karṇena bāṇair nihatāḥ prasahya | pāñcālānke pradhāna-pradhāna-sainikāḥ tathā anye yoddhāḥ punaḥ karṇa-arjunayor madhye ājagmuḥ; parantu balavān karṇaḥ suṣṭhu muktaiḥ bāṇaiḥ tān sarvān haṭhapūrvakaṃ nipātayām āsa |
Sañjaya said: As the foremost Pāñcāla soldiers and other warriors surged forward again and came between Karṇa and Arjuna, Karṇa—mighty and unyielding—cut them down by force with well-aimed arrows loosed in perfect measure. The scene underscores the grim ethic of the battlefield: valor and skill, once unleashed, become an inexorable instrument of destruction, regardless of the individual worth of those who stand in the way.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the battlefield ethic of kṣatriya-dharma: when war is joined, skill and resolve become decisive, and even eminent warriors may fall if they obstruct a principal duel. It also implicitly warns that excellence in arms, though admirable, carries grave moral weight because its ‘properly released’ power results in irreversible harm.
During the Karṇa–Arjuna confrontation, leading Pāñcāla troops and other fighters rush in again to intervene between them. Karṇa responds immediately, using force and expertly loosed arrows to strike them down, clearing the space around the central duel.