Shloka 47
तस्य तानशनिप्रख्यानिषून् समरशोभिन: । चिच्छेद बहुभिर्भल्लैरसम्प्राप्तान् वकोदर:,परंतु समरभूमिमें शोभा पानेवाले कर्णके उन वज्रोपम बाणोंको भीमसेनने अपने पास आनेसे पहले ही बहुत-से भल्लोंद्वारा काट गिराया
tasya tān aśaniprakhyān iṣūn samarśobhinaḥ | ciccheda bahubhir bhallair asamprāptān vṛkodaraḥ ||
Those thunderbolt-like arrows of Karṇa, splendid on the battlefield, were cut down by Vṛkodara (Bhīmasena) with many broad-headed shafts before they could even reach him—showing not only strength but alertness and mastery amid the fierce ethics of war, where skill and readiness decide life and death.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
In the battlefield ethic of the Mahābhārata, prowess is inseparable from vigilance: even formidable weapons fail when met by superior readiness and technique. The verse highlights disciplined skill—countering violence with precise control rather than panic.
Karṇa releases thunderbolt-like arrows. Bhīma (Vṛkodara) intercepts them mid-flight and cuts them down with many bhalla-shafts before they can reach him, turning Karṇa’s attack into a display of Bhīma’s defensive mastery.