Shloka 18
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
शृज़मग्निर्बभूवास्य भलल: सोमो विशाम्पते,वृषभस्यास्य निनदं श्रुत्वा भयकरं महत् | विनाशमगमंस्तत्र तारका: सुरशत्रव:
śṛṅgam agnir babhūvāsya bhallaḥ somo viśāmpate | vṛṣabhasyāsya ninadaṃ śrutvā bhayakaraṃ mahat | vināśam agamans tatra tārakāḥ suraśatravaḥ ||
दुर्योधन बोला— “हे प्रजापते! उसके बाण का अग्रभाग अग्नि-सा दहक उठा और उसकी कान्ति चन्द्रमा-सी हो गई। इस वृषभ-तुल्य वीर का महान्, भयावह गर्जन सुनकर वहाँ देव-शत्रु तारकाएँ मानो विनाश की ओर दौड़ पड़ीं।”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war magnifies perception: weapons and sounds are described with cosmic metaphors (fire, moon, stars) to convey moral and psychological intensity—fear, awe, and the sense that adharma-driven conflict disturbs even the imagined order of the cosmos.
Duryodhana describes a terrifying battlefield moment: a barbed arrow gleams like fire and moonlight, and the thunderous roar of a ‘bull-like’ warrior is so dreadful that it is poetically said to drive the star-like enemies of the gods toward destruction—an omen-like image of impending ruin.