Sañjaya said: Then Arjuna, the scorcher of foes, consecrated a divine arrow—terrible, blazing like fire and deadly as serpent-venom, hard as adamant—and, having empowered it with the fierce celestial weapon Raudra, resolved to loose it at Karṇa. O king, at that very moment the earth seized and swallowed the wheel of Karṇa, Rādhā’s son.
Word by Word
[{'term''tataḥ', 'definition': 'then
[{'term':
thereafter'}, {'term''agnisadṛśam', 'definition': 'like fire
fearsome'}, {'term''śaram', 'definition': 'arrow'}, {'term': 'sarpaviṣopamam', 'definition': 'comparable to serpent-venom
fearsome'}, {'term':
as deadly as snake poison'}, {'term''aśmasāramayam', 'definition': 'made of aśmasāra (adamantine/stone-essence
as deadly as snake poison'}, {'term':
extremely hard substance)'}, {'term''divyam', 'definition': 'divine
extremely hard substance)'}, {'term':
celestial'}, {'term''abhimantrya', 'definition': 'having invoked (mantras) over
celestial'}, {'term':
having consecrated/enchanted'}, {'term''parantapaḥ', 'definition': 'scorcher of foes (epithet of Arjuna)'}, {'term': 'raudrāstra', 'definition': 'the Rudra/Śiva missile
having consecrated/enchanted'}, {'term':
a fierce divine weapon'}, {'term''pṛthivī', 'definition': 'the earth (as a power/personified force)'}, {'term': 'rādhāputraḥ', 'definition': 'son of Rādhā (epithet of Karṇa)'}, {'term': 'cakra/pahiya', 'definition': 'wheel (of the chariot)'}, {'term': 'gras', 'definition': 'to seize, swallow, engulf'}]
a fierce divine weapon'}, {'term':
Speaker
संजय उवाच
Characters & Entities
S
Sañjaya
A
Arjuna
K
Karṇa (Rādhāputra)
P
Pṛthivī (Earth, personified)
Ś
Śara (divine arrow)
R
Raudrāstra (Rudra weapon)
C
Chariot wheel
Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Geographic Context
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in war, human prowess and even divine weapons operate within a larger moral-causal order: decisive moments can turn on forces beyond immediate control, suggesting the interplay of karma, destiny, and the ethical weight of prior actions.
Arjuna prepares and empowers a terrifying divine arrow (linked with the fierce Rudra weapon) to strike Karṇa; at that critical instant, the earth grips Karṇa’s chariot wheel, immobilizing him and setting the stage for the climactic, morally fraught confrontation.
