Shloka 16
यानर्जुन: सभ्रुकुटीकटाक्षं कर्णाय राजन्नसृजज्जितारि: । तान् सायकैग्र॑सते सूतपुत्र: क्षिप्तान् क्षिप्तान् पाण्डवस्याशु संघान्
yān arjunaḥ sabhrukuṭīkaṭākṣaṁ karṇāya rājan asṛjad jitāriḥ | tān sāyakair grasate sūtaputraḥ kṣiptān kṣiptān pāṇḍavasyāśu saṅghān ||
Sañjaya dit : Ô roi, ces volées de flèches qu’Arjuna—le front plissé, le regard farouche—lança vers Karṇa, vainqueur des ennemis, Karṇa, fils du cocher, les engloutit promptement de ses propres traits, encore et encore, à mesure que le Pāṇḍava les projetait par salves.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of steadfastness and skill under pressure: fierce intent must be matched by disciplined mastery. Ethically, it portrays how rivalry in war intensifies through immediate retaliation—each side answers force with force—underscoring the tragic momentum of battle even among great heroes.
Sañjaya describes a moment in the Arjuna–Karṇa duel: Arjuna, glaring with knitted brows, releases volleys at Karṇa; Karṇa rapidly counters by intercepting and overwhelming those incoming shafts with his own arrows, repeatedly neutralizing the Pāṇḍava’s missile-clusters.