Shloka 27

Devanagari script

त्वदीयै: पुरुषव्यात्र योधमुख्यैर्महात्मभि: । शरजालसहसांशु: शरदीव दिवाकर:,पुरुषसिंह! तुम्हारे महामनस्वी श्रेष्ठ योद्धा दोपहरके तपते हुए सूर्यकी भाँति कर्णकी ओर देख भी नहीं सकते। जैसे शरद्‌-ऋतुके निर्मल आकाशमें सूर्य अपनी सहस्रों किरणें बिखेरता है, उसी प्रकार कर्ण युद्धमें अपने बाणोंका जाल-सा बिछा देता है

Transliteration

tvadīyaiḥ puruṣavyāghra yodhamukhyair mahātmabhiḥ | śarajālasahasrāṃśuḥ śaradīva divākaraḥ ||

Translation

Vāyu dit : «Ô tigre parmi les hommes, tes meilleurs guerriers, si grands d’âme soient-ils, ne peuvent même pas fixer leur regard sur Karṇa. Comme le soleil, dans le ciel clair de l’automne, répand mille rayons, ainsi Karṇa, au combat, déploie une pluie de flèches comme un filet.»

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'tvadīyaiḥ', 'definition': 'by/with your (belonging to you)'}, {'term': 'puruṣavyāghra', 'definition': 'tiger among men

• a heroic epithet'}, {'term': 'yodhamukhya', 'definition': 'chief/foremost warrior'}, {'term': 'mahātman', 'definition': 'great-souled, noble-minded'}, {'term': 'śarajāla', 'definition': 'a net/web of arrows'}, {'term': 'sahasrāṃśu', 'definition': 'thousand-rayed (epithet of the sun)'}, {'term': 'śarad', 'definition': 'autumn season

• symbol of clarity'}, {'term': 'divākara', 'definition': 'sun

Speaker

श्रीवायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyu (Vāyudeva)
• Karṇa
• the sun (Divākara / Sahasrāṃśu)
• arrows (śara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how extraordinary prowess can create moral and psychological pressure in war: even noble warriors may falter before overwhelming skill. It also uses the autumn-sun image to suggest clarity and irresistible force—power that compels others to acknowledge reality rather than pride.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva addresses a heroic listener (implied by the epithet ‘puruṣavyāghra’) and describes Karṇa’s dominance on the battlefield: Karṇa releases such a dense, radiant barrage of arrows that the opposing champions cannot even look toward him, likened to the sun spreading its rays in the clear autumn sky.