Shloka 56
राजन! किरीटधारी अर्जुनके द्वारा उस सर्पके मारे जानेपर स्वयं भगवान् पुरुषोत्तम श्रीकृष्णने उस नीचे धँसते हुए रथको पुनः अपनी दोनों भुजाओंसे शीघ्र ही ऊपर उठा दिया ।।
rājan! kirīṭadhāriṇā arjunena tasya sarpasya māraṇe kṛte svayaṃ bhagavān puruṣottamaḥ śrīkṛṣṇas taṃ nimagnam iva rathaṃ svābhyāṃ bhujābhyāṃ kṣipram evoddhṛtya punar ūrdhvaṃ cakāra || tasmin muhūrte daśabhiḥ pṛṣatkaiḥ śilāśitaiḥ barhiṇabarhāvajitaiḥ | vivyādha karṇaḥ puruṣapravīro dhanañjayaṃ tiryag-avekṣamāṇaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: O King, when Arjuna, the wearer of the diadem, had slain that serpent, the Blessed Lord—Puruṣottama Śrī Kṛṣṇa—swiftly lifted the chariot that was sinking down, raising it up again with both his arms. In that very moment, Karṇa, the foremost of warriors, casting a sidelong glance at Dhanañjaya, pierced him with ten arrows—keenly whetted on stone and adorned with peacock feathers.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid violent conflict, the epic highlights the interplay of human valor and divine guardianship: Arjuna’s agency is preserved through Kṛṣṇa’s timely intervention, suggesting that steadfast commitment to one’s dharma is sustained by grace when the larger moral order is at stake.
After Arjuna kills a serpent that threatens him, Kṛṣṇa quickly raises the chariot that is sinking. Immediately, Karṇa exploits the moment and wounds Arjuna with ten sharp, peacock-feathered arrows while looking at him sidelong.