Shloka 12
कर्णभीमसेनयुद्धम् | Karṇa–Bhīmasena Engagement
Chapter 111
सर्वतो व्यकिरन् बाणैरुल्काभिरिव कुञ्जरम् | माननीय नरेश! जैसे जलती हुई उल्काओंद्वारा चारों ओरसे घेरकर हाथीपर प्रहार किया जाता है, उसी प्रकार रथसमूहके द्वारा अलम्बुषको कोष्ठबद्ध करके वे सब लोग चारों ओरसे उसपर बाणोंकी वर्षा करने लगे ।। स तेषामस्त्रवेगं तं प्रतिहत्यास्त्रमायया
sañjaya uvāca |
sarvato vyakiran bāṇair ulkābhir iva kuñjaram |
mānanīya nareśa! yathā jvalitābhir ulkābhiś caturdiśaṃ parivārya kuñjare prahāraḥ kriyate, tathā rathasaṃghair alambuṣaṃ koṣṭhabaddhaṃ kṛtvā te sarve caturdiśaṃ tasmin bāṇavarṣaṃ prāvartayan ||
sa teṣām astravegaṃ taṃ pratihatyāstramāyayā ||
Sañjaya said: “O revered king, just as a great elephant is hemmed in on all sides and struck as though by blazing meteors, so did the mass of chariots close in and pen in Alambuṣa, and from every direction they began to shower him with arrows. But he, by the deceptive power of weapons, checked the rush of their missiles.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare intensifies through coordinated force and counter-force: many attack together, while the targeted warrior survives by skill and stratagem (astramāyā). Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension between kṣatriya duty in battle and the troubling use of deceptive means that blur the line between valor and trickery.
A host of charioteers surrounds Alambuṣa, boxing him in and pelting him from all directions with arrows, likened to fiery meteors striking an elephant. Alambuṣa then counters by neutralizing the incoming weapon-force through a form of weapon-illusion or tactical deception (astramāyā).