Shloka 20
Somadatta’s Kṣātra-Dharma Accusation; Night Combat, Māyā, and the Fall of Ghaṭotkaca
Droṇa-parva, Adhyāya 131
तस्मिन् सुतुमुले राजन् कर्णभीमसमागमे । सारी सेनाके समस्त वाहन संत्रस्त होकर मल-मूत्र त्यागने लगे। उनका मन उदास हो गया। बहुत-से भयंकर अपशकुन प्रकट होने लगे। राजन्! कर्ण और भीमके उस भयंकर युद्धमें आकाश गीधों, कौवों और कंकोंसे छा गया || १८-१९ $ ।। ततः कर्णस्तु विंशत्या शराणां भीममार्दयत्
tataḥ karṇas tu viṁśatyā śarāṇāṁ bhīmam ārdayat |
Sanjaya said: Then Karna, with twenty arrows, struck and tormented Bhima—intensifying the dreadful duel that had already shaken the armies and filled the sky with ominous signs. The scene underscores how, in war, prowess and wrath can eclipse restraint, drawing all beings into fear and foreboding.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how martial skill, when driven by rage and rivalry, escalates suffering; it invites reflection on restraint (saṁyama) and the moral weight of violence even within kshatriya warfare.
Sanjaya reports that Karna shoots Bhima with twenty arrows, wounding and pressing him in their fierce encounter amid an atmosphere of terror and ominous portents.