Shloka 15
नरेश्वर! वह यह सोचकर कि “दुरात्मा अर्जुनके वैरका बदला लेनेके लिये यही सबसे अच्छा अवसर है” बाणका रूप धारण करके कर्णके तरकसमें घुस गया ।।
tato 'strasaṅghātasamākulaṃ tadā babhūva yuddhaṃ vitatāṃśujālam | tat karṇa-pārthau śarasaṅghavṛṣṭibhir nirantaraṃ cakratur ambaraṃ tadā ||
O lord of men, thinking, “This is the best moment to avenge my enmity against the wicked Arjuna,” he assumed the form of an arrow and entered Karṇa’s quiver. Then the battle grew thick with volleys of missiles, like a spread-out net of flashing rays. At that time Karṇa and Pārtha (Arjuna), by uninterrupted showers of arrows, made the very sky continuous with their missile-streams—turning the air into an unbroken field of shafts.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how vengeance and rivalry can drive conflict into an unbroken, escalating exchange. Ethically, it points to the way personal animosity, when carried into a dharma-framed war, can still magnify suffering and intensity beyond necessity.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa and Arjuna engaging in a fierce duel. Their continuous volleys of arrows and missiles fill the sky so densely that the battlefield appears covered by a radiant web of weapon-flashes.