Shloka 8
कर्णपर्व — चतुर्दशोऽध्यायः
Arjuna’s Suppression of the Saṃśaptakas; Kṛṣṇa’s Strategic Admonition; Battlefield Inventory
ललाटस्थैस्ततो बाणै्राह्रिणोडसौ व्यशोभत । प्रावषीव यथा सिक्तस्त्रिशुद्भ: पर्वतोत्तम:
lalāṭasthaiḥ tato bāṇair āhṛṇod asau vyaśobhata | prāvṛṣīva yathā siktaḥ triśṛṅgaḥ parvatottamaḥ ||
फिर ललाट में धँसे उन तीन बाणों से वह अद्भुत शोभा पाने लगा—जैसे वर्षाकाल में भीगा हुआ तीन शिखरों वाला उत्तम पर्वत।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethical tension: in war, bodily wounds become visible signs of destiny and endurance. The poetic comparison does not glorify violence itself; it frames the warrior’s (or combatant’s) bearing of injury as a stark emblem of steadfastness amid adharma-prone circumstances.
Sañjaya describes a combatant who has been struck so that arrows remain embedded in his forehead. Rather than depicting only pain, the narration emphasizes his uncanny, awe-inspiring appearance, likening him to a lofty three-peaked mountain soaked by monsoon rains.