Shloka 48
“यह महान दिव्यास्त्रसे प्रेरित महाबाण शत्रुके शरीर, हृदय और प्राणोंका विनाश करनेवाला है। यदि मैंने तप किया हो, गुरुजनोंको सेवाद्वारा संतुष्ट रखा हो, यज्ञ किया हो और हितैषी मित्रोंकी बातें ध्यान देकर सुनी हो तो इस सत्यके प्रभावसे यह अच्छी तरह संधान किया हुआ बाण मेरे शक्तिशाली शत्रु कर्णका नाश कर डाले, ऐसा कहकर धनंजयने उस घोर बाणको कर्णके वधके लिये छोड़ दिया ।। कृत्यामथर्वाज्धिरसीमिवोग्रां दीप्तामसह्ां युधि मृत्युनापि । ब्रुवन् किरीटी तमतिप्रद्ृष्टो हायं शरो मे विजयावहो<स्तु
kṛtyām atharvāṅgirasīm ivogrāṃ dīptām asahyāṃ yudhi mṛtyunāpi | bruvan kirīṭī tam atipradṛṣṭo hāyaṃ śaro me vijayāvaho 'stu ||
Sañjaya said: “This great shaft, driven by a divine weapon, can destroy an enemy’s body, heart, and life-breath. If I have practiced austerity, pleased elders and teachers through service, performed sacrifices, and listened with care to the counsel of well-wishing friends, then by the power of that truth may this well-aimed arrow destroy my mighty foe Karṇa.” So speaking, Arjuna the diademed warrior, with fierce resolve, released that dreadful missile for Karṇa’s death—like a blazing Atharvanic kṛtyā of destruction, unbearable in battle even to Death itself—and declared: “May this arrow of mine bring victory.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the idea that moral and spiritual capital—truthfulness, austerity, honoring teachers and elders, sacrificial duty, and heeding good counsel—can be invoked as a ‘truth-act’ (satyakriyā) that empowers action. In the epic’s ethical frame, victory is not only tactical but also linked to inner discipline and righteous conduct.
Sañjaya narrates that Arjuna, intensely focused, utters a victory-invocation and releases a dreadful, well-aimed arrow meant specifically for Karṇa’s death. The arrow is compared to a fierce Atharvavedic destructive rite—so terrifying that even Death would find it unbearable on the battlefield.