Shloka 30
शक्ति, प्रस्तर, फरसे, प्रास, खड्ग, वज्र, बिजली और मुदगरोंकी गिरती हुई उस ज्वालापूर्ण विशाल वर्षाको कर्ण अपने बाणसमूहोंद्वारा नष्ट न कर सका ।। शराहतानां पततां हयानां वज्जाहतानां च तथा गजानाम् | शिलाहतानां च महारथानां महान् निनाद: पततां बभूव,बाणोंसे घायल होकर गिरते हुए घोड़ों, वजसे आहत होकर धराशायी होते हुए हाथियों तथा शिलाओंकी मार खाकर गिरते हुए महारथियोंका महान् आर्तनाद वहाँ सुनायी देता था
sañjaya uvāca | śakti-prastara-phaṛase-prāsa-khaḍga-vajra-vidyut-mudgarāṇāṃ patatīm imāṃ jvālāpūrṇāṃ mahāvarṣāṃ karṇo bāṇasaṃghair nāśayituṃ na śaśāka || śarāhatānāṃ patatāṃ hayānāṃ vajrāhatānāṃ ca tathā gajānām | śilāhatānāṃ ca mahārathānāṃ mahān ninādaḥ patatāṃ babhūva ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Karṇa tidak mampu, dengan gugusan anak panahnya, memusnahkan hujan besar yang menyala itu—tombak sakti, batu, kapak, lembing, pedang, vajra, panah bagai kilat, dan gada—yang jatuh menimpanya. Lalu terdengarlah gemuruh dahsyat: kuda-kuda roboh karena luka panah, gajah-gajah tumbang seakan dihantam vajra, dan para maharatha jatuh dihajar batu—semuanya menghantam tanah diiringi jerit kesakitan.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of war: even the greatest warrior’s skill can be eclipsed by escalating violence, and the true ‘result’ becomes widespread suffering. It implicitly questions triumphal notions of glory by foregrounding the cries and collapse of living beings.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa facing an intense barrage—like a flaming rain—of diverse weapons. Karṇa cannot fully neutralize it with his arrows, and the battlefield resounds with the crash and cries of wounded horses, felled elephants, and fallen great chariot-warriors struck by stones and other missiles.