Shloka 17
कर्णस्य दानप्रतिज्ञा–शल्योपदेश–वाक्ययुद्धम्
Karna’s Gift-Vows, Shalya’s Counsel, and the Battle of Words
रथी नागं समासाद्य दारयन् निशितै: शरै: । प्रेषयामास कालाय शरै: संनतपर्वभि:,रथी हाथीका सामना करके झुकी हुई गाँठवाले तीखे बाणोंद्वारा उसे विदीर्ण करते हुए कालके गालमें भेजने लगे
rathī nāgaṃ samāsādya dārayan niśitaiḥ śaraiḥ | preṣayāmāsa kālāya śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ ||
Sañjaya dit : Le guerrier au char s’approcha de l’éléphant et, le déchirant de flèches acérées—des flèches aux jointures courbées—ne cessait de l’envoyer dans les mâchoires mêmes de la Mort.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the stark reality of war: prowess and resolve can swiftly turn into an instrument of Kāla (death/time). Ethically, it invites reflection on how violence, even when performed as kṣatriya-duty, carries an inescapable gravity—life is ‘sent to Death’ by human action within the larger current of fate.
Sañjaya describes a chariot-warrior advancing on an elephant and piercing it with very sharp arrows, described as having bent joints (saṃnata-parva). The elephant is being mortally wounded—figuratively ‘dispatched to Kāla,’ i.e., killed in battle.