Shloka 77
प्रजानाथ! कर्णके शरीरमें बहुत-से बाण धँस गये थे। उनके द्वारा समरांगणमें उसकी वैसी ही शोभा हो रही थी, जैसे वृक्षोंसे व्याप्त शिखर और कन्दरावाले गिरिराजके ऊपर लाल कनेरके फूल खिलनेसे उसकी शोभा होती है ।।
sa bāṇasaṅghān bahudhā vyavāsṛjad vibhāti karṇaḥ śarajālaraśmivān | sa-lohito raktagabhastimaṇḍalo divākaro ’stâbhimukho yathā tathā ||
Sañjaya said: O lord of the people, many arrows had sunk deep into Karṇa’s body, and by them he shone on the battlefield like a mountain-king whose wooded peaks and caverns are made more splendid when red oleander blooms. And as he loosed volleys again and again, Karṇa—radiant with the gleam of his net of arrows—appeared like the sun at day’s end: its disk reddened, its rays blood-hued, facing the western horizon.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfastness under suffering: even when grievously wounded, a warrior may uphold resolve and duty. The sunset-sun simile conveys dignified brilliance alongside the nearness of decline, reminding readers that glory and mortality coexist in righteous combat.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa, though riddled with arrows, continues to discharge volleys and appears radiant on the battlefield—likened to the red, setting sun whose rays spread outward as it faces the western horizon.