Shloka 67
दृढाहतः पत्रिभिरुग्रवेगै: पार्थेन कर्णो विविधै: शिताग्रै: बभौ गिरिरगैरिकधातुरक्त: क्षरन् प्रपातैरिव रक्तमम्भ:
sañjaya uvāca | dṛḍhāhataḥ patribhir ugravegaiḥ pārthena karṇo vividhaiḥ śitāgraiḥ | babhau girir gairikadhāturaktaḥ kṣaran prapātair iva raktam ambhaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Struck hard by Pārtha’s arrows—fletched, of terrible speed, and tipped with many kinds of keen points—Karna shone forth, streaming blood from his limbs, like a mountain reddened with ochre-bearing minerals, pouring down crimson water from its cascades. Thus the war’s grim grandeur was revealed: valor endured, yet the body’s suffering proclaimed the heavy moral cost of relentless combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the paradox of kṣatriya warfare: even when courage and martial brilliance remain, the physical reality of injury and bloodshed exposes the grave human cost. It invites reflection on dharma in conflict—duty pursued amid suffering—and the ethical weight carried by those who fight.
Sañjaya narrates that Arjuna strikes Karna with many swift, sharp, feathered arrows. Karna, deeply wounded, bleeds profusely; yet he appears striking—compared to a mountain reddened by minerals, sending down red torrents from its waterfalls.