Shloka 50
अर्जुनस्य शीघ्रप्रयाणं भीम-शकुनियुद्धं च
Arjuna’s Rapid Advance and the Bhīma–Śakuni Encounter
तेषामाददत: प्राणानासीदाधिरथेरवपु:
teṣām ādadatāḥ prāṇān āsīd ādhirather vapuḥ
Sañjaya dit : Tandis qu’il leur arrachait la vie, le corps même du fils d’Ādhiratha (Karna) devint un effroyable instrument de mort—signe de l’élan funeste du combat, où sur le champ de bataille règne la prouesse, non la pitié.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the harsh ethical reality of war: once battle is fully joined, a warrior’s embodied power can become synonymous with death-dealing force, highlighting the tragic tension between kṣatriya duty and the human cost of violence.
Sañjaya describes Karna in the midst of combat, portraying him as actively slaying opponents—“taking their lives”—and emphasizing how his very presence (vapuḥ) appears as a formidable, lethal force on the battlefield.