Shloka 78
तदनन्तर कर्ण (सावधान होकर) शत्रुओंपर बहुत-से बाणसमूहोंकी वर्षा करने लगा। उस समय जैसे अस्ताचलकी ओर जाते हुए सूर्यमण्डल और उसकी किरणें लाल हो जाती हैं, उसी प्रकार खूनसे लाल हुआ वह शरसमूहरूपी किरणोंसे सुशोभित हो रहा था ।।
tadanantaraṁ karṇaḥ sāvadhānaḥ śatrūn prati bahūn bāṇasaṁghān varṣayām āsa | tasmin kāle yathā astācalam abhigacchataḥ sūryamaṇḍalasya raśmayaś ca lohitā bhavanti, tathā rudhireṇa lohitaḥ sa śarasaṁgho raśmivat śobhām avāpa || bāhvantareṇādhirathena vimuktān bāṇān mahāhīn iva dīpyamānān | vyadhvaṁsayann arjunabāhumuktāḥ śarāḥ samāsādya diśaḥ śitāgrāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Thereafter Karṇa, fully alert, began to shower the enemy with dense volleys of arrows. At that time, just as the sun’s disc and its rays turn crimson while moving toward the western mountain at sunset, so too that mass of shafts—reddened with blood—shone like a cluster of rays. Released from the space between his arms, the blazing arrows of Adhiratha (Karṇa), like great serpents, met the razor-pointed shafts loosed from Arjuna’s arms and shattered them, spreading in all directions.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of vigilant resolve and skill in battle, while also reminding the reader—through the sunset-blood imagery—of war’s grim cost and the transience of glory.
Karna, described as Adhiratha, unleashes blazing volleys of arrows. Arjuna counters with sharp shafts; the two streams meet mid-course, and Karna’s arrows shatter Arjuna’s, scattering fragments in all directions.