Shloka 23
स मृत्युवशमापन्नं कार्तवीर्यमुपाद्रवत् । तस्याथ युधि विक्रम्य भार्गव: परवीरहा,और कालके वशीभूत हुए कार्तवीर्य अर्जनपर धावा बोल दिया। शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाले भृगुनन्दन परशुरामजीने अपना सुन्दर धनुष ले युद्धमें महान् पराक्रम दिखाकर पैने बाणोंद्वारा उसकी परिघसदृश सहस्र भुजाओंको काट डाला
sa mṛtyuvaśam āpannaṃ kārtavīryam upādravat | tasyātha yudhi vikramya bhārgavaḥ paravīrahā |
Seeing Kārtavīrya Arjuna already fallen under the dominion of death, he rushed upon him. Then, in that battle, the Bhārgava—Paraśurāma, slayer of hostile heroes—displayed mighty prowess, and with keen arrows he cut down the thousand arms that were like iron clubs.
अकृतव्रण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral contrast: sheer might (Kārtavīrya’s thousand arms) cannot protect one who has entered the path of adharma and is already ‘under death’s sway’; disciplined, purposeful force (Paraśurāma’s prowess) becomes the instrument of retribution. Power without restraint is portrayed as self-defeating.
Akṛtavraṇa narrates how Paraśurāma charges at Kārtavīrya Arjuna in battle and, demonstrating great martial prowess, severs his famed thousand arms with sharp arrows—signaling Kārtavīrya’s decisive defeat and impending death.