Shloka 28
स सायक: कर्णभुजप्रसृष्टो हुताशनार्कप्रतिम: सुघोर: । गुणच्युत: कर्णधनु:प्रमुक्तो वियद्गत: प्राज्वलदन्तरिक्षे
sa sāyakaḥ karṇabhujaprasṛṣṭo hutāśanārkapratimaḥ sughoraḥ | guṇacyutaḥ karṇadhanuḥpramukto viyadgataḥ prājvalad antarīkṣe ||
Sañjaya said: The arrow, released by Karṇa’s mighty arm—terrible, blazing like fire and the sun—shot forth from Karṇa’s bow as the bowstring slipped. It sped into the sky, flaring as it cut through the mid-air, a fearful sign amid the fury of battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even the most formidable power can be checked by a small failure of means (the bowstring slipping). In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, it underscores the fragility of human control in war and the way fate, circumstance, and minute lapses can overturn confidence and alter outcomes.
Sañjaya describes an arrow shot by Karṇa: it is terrifying and radiant like fire and the sun. Yet it is said to be ‘guṇacyuta’—having slipped from the bowstring—so it flies up into the sky, blazing through the atmosphere, suggesting a misfire or an ominous deviation amid the battle.