Shloka 43
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 25 — Bhīma’s Disruption of Elephant Formations and Bhagadatta’s Shock Advance
ते चैनं भृशसंतप्ता: शरवर्षरवाकिरन् । स च तांश्छादयामास शरजालै: पुन: पुन:,तब वे अत्यन्त संतप्त हो कर्णपर बाणोंकी झड़ी लगाने लगे और कर्णने भी अपने बाणोंके समूहसे उन्हें बार-बार आच्छादित कर दिया
te cainaṁ bhṛśa-santaptāḥ śara-varṣa-ravākiran | sa ca tāṁś chādayāmāsa śara-jālaiḥ punaḥ punaḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Alors, tourmentés à l’excès, ils déversèrent sur lui une pluie de flèches rugissante. Et lui, en retour, les recouvrit encore et encore de denses filets de traits—répondant à leur fureur par une maîtrise guerrière implacable au cœur des ténèbres morales de la guerre.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in the battlefield’s heat, suffering and anger quickly intensify into reciprocal violence. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: kṣatriya prowess and duty operate within a tragic cycle where retaliation multiplies harm rather than resolving it.
A group of warriors, severely distressed, unleash a loud, continuous volley of arrows at Karṇa. Karṇa responds by repeatedly blanketing them with dense barrages—an exchange of missile-fire where each side attempts to overwhelm the other through sustained archery.