Shloka 9
भुजा: सवस्त्राडगुलय: समुच्छिता: ससिंहनादैर्हषितैर्दिदृक्षुभि: । यदर्जुनो मत्त इव द्विपो द्विपं समभ्ययादाधिरथिं जिघांसया,जैसे मतवाला हाथी किसी हाथीपर आक्रमण करता है, उसी प्रकार अर्जुन जब कर्णके वधकी इच्छासे उसपर धावा करने लगे, उस समय दर्शकोंने आनन्दित हो सिंहनाद करते हुए अपने हाथ ऊपर उठा दिये और अंगुलियोंमें वस्त्र लेकर उन्हें हिलाना आरम्भ किया
sañjaya uvāca |
bhujāḥ savastrāṅgulayaḥ samucchitāḥ sasaṃhanādair harṣitair didṛkṣubhiḥ |
yad arjuno matta iva dvipo dvipaṃ samabhyayād ādhirathiṃ jighāṃsayā ||
Sañjaya said: When Arjuna, intent on killing Ādhiratha (Karna), charged at him like a maddened elephant rushing upon another elephant, the onlookers—eager to witness the clash—were thrilled. With lion-like shouts they raised their arms aloft and began waving cloths held in their fingers, exulting at the impending encounter.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war turns even witnessing into exhilaration: crowds celebrate the approach of lethal combat. Ethically, it underscores the tension between heroic valor and the troubling ease with which violence becomes spectacle, while also showing Arjuna’s single-minded resolve in a dharma-framed but deadly conflict.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna rushing to attack Karna (called Ādhirathi) with the intent to kill him, likening the charge to a maddened elephant attacking another. The spectators, eager to see the duel, shout loudly like lions and wave cloths with raised arms in excitement.