Shloka 23
तस्मिंस्तु नागे धनुषि प्रयुक्ते हाहाकृता लोकपाला: सशक्रा: । न चापि त॑ बुबुधे सूतपुत्रो बाणे प्रविष्टं योगबलेन नागम्
tasmiṁstu nāge dhanuṣi prayukte hāhākṛtā lokapālāḥ saśakrāḥ | na cāpi taṁ bubudhe sūtaputro bāṇe praviṣṭaṁ yogabalena nāgam ||
Sañjaya said: When that serpent-missile was set upon the bow and released, the guardians of the worlds—Indra included—cried out in alarm. Yet the charioteer’s son, Karṇa, did not even realize that, by the force of yogic power, a serpent had entered and lodged itself within the arrow.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that outcomes in war are not governed solely by visible skill and intention; unseen forces—divine or yogic—can intervene, making human agency partial and complicating moral judgment about responsibility and fate.
As a serpent-powered missile is set and released from the bow, even Indra and the other world-guardians react with alarm. Karna, however, remains unaware that a serpent has entered and is riding within the arrow through yogic power.