Shloka 39

Devanagari script

ततः: कर्णो महाराज रोषामर्षसमन्वित:,महाराज! तब रोष और अमर्षमें भरे हुए कर्णने पाण्डुपुत्र भीमसेनपर पचीस नाराचोंका प्रहार किया। साथ ही अन्य बहुत-से बाणोंद्वारा उन्हें घायल कर दिया और एक बाणसे उनकी ध्वजा काट डाली

Transliteration

tataḥ karṇo mahārāja roṣāmarṣa-samanvitaḥ pāṇḍuputra-bhīmasenam pañcaviṃśatyā nārācaiḥ samāhanat | anyaiś ca bahubhiḥ śaraiḥ saṃvraṇayām āsa, ekena ca śareṇa tasya dhvajam acchinat |

Translation

Dijo Sañjaya: Entonces Karṇa, oh rey, colmado de ira y de orgullo herido, descargó sobre Bhīmasena—hijo de Pāṇḍu—veinticinco flechas nārāca. Con muchas otras saetas lo hirió aún más, y con una sola flecha abatió el estandarte de Bhīma, cortándolo.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

कर्णःKarna

महाराजO great king

रोषामर्षसमन्वितःendowed with anger and indignation

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Karna

Bhīmasena (Bhīma)

Pāṇḍuputra (the Pāṇḍavas, as a collective reference)

nārāca arrows

śara (arrows)

dhvaja (banner/standard)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how roṣa (anger) and amarṣa (wounded pride) can drive a warrior to intensified aggression. Ethically, it points to the inner causes that escalate conflict: when honor becomes entangled with resentment, violence expands beyond necessity, even targeting symbols like a banner to break morale.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa, enraged, strikes Bhīma with twenty-five powerful nārāca arrows, wounds him further with many other arrows, and then severs Bhīma’s banner with a single shot—an act meant to diminish Bhīma’s battlefield prestige and confidence.