Shloka 15
Arjuna’s Approach, Drona’s Recognition, and the Turning of the Cattle (अर्जुनागमनम्, द्रोणवाक्यम्, गोगमनिवृत्तिः)
अश्ववेगपुरोवातो रथौघस्तनयित्नुमान् । शरधारो महामेघ: शमयिष्यामि पाण्डवम्,जो अग्निकी भाँति दुर्धर्ष है, खड़ग, शक्ति और बाणरूपी ईंधनसे प्रज्वलित है और अपने शत्रुको भस्म कर रही है, उस अर्जुनरूपी जलती हुई आगको आज मैं महामेघ बनकर बुझा दूँगा। मेरे अश्वोंका वेग ही पुरवैया हवाका काम करेगा। रथसमूहकी घर्घराहट ही बादलोंकी गम्भीर गर्जनगा होगी और बाणोंकी धारा ही जलधाराका काम करेगी
aśvavegapurovāto rathaughastanayitnumān | śaradhāro mahāmeghaḥ śamayīṣyāmi pāṇḍavam ||
Karna said: “With the speed of my horses as the driving wind, with the thunderous roar of my massed chariots as the rumbling of clouds, and with a torrent of arrows as the pouring rain, I shall become a great storm-cloud and extinguish that blazing Pāṇḍava (Arjuna).”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse illustrates how martial pride and rivalry can transform conflict into a contest of overpowering the other’s brilliance. Ethically, it highlights the kṣatriya tendency to frame violence as heroic necessity, while implicitly warning that such self-assured metaphors can mask the human cost of war.
Karna declares his intention to confront the Pāṇḍava (Arjuna) and uses a storm metaphor: horse-speed becomes wind, chariot-noise becomes thunder, and arrows become rain, by which he will ‘extinguish’ Arjuna’s fiery prowess.