Shloka 12
अन्धकार-रजःसंमूढे रणाङ्गणे प्रदीपप्रकाशः | Illumination of the Army in Darkness and Dust
ततो बाणसहस्राणि प्रेषयामास पाण्डव: । सूतपुत्रवधाकाड्क्षी त्वरमाण: पराक्रमी
tato bāṇasahasrāṇi preṣayāmāsa pāṇḍavaḥ | sūtaputravadhākāṅkṣī tvaramāṇaḥ parākrāmī ||
Sañjaya said: Then the Pāṇḍava hero, eager to bring about the death of the charioteer’s son (Karna), swiftly and with great valor loosed thousands of arrows. The verse highlights how personal resolve and the pressure of war drive decisive action, even as the ethical weight of seeking another’s death remains implicit in the battlefield setting.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds determined effort (udyama) and warrior resolve in a dharma-framed war: once a goal is fixed in battle, the kṣatriya acts swiftly and forcefully. At the same time, it implicitly raises the ethical gravity of intent—seeking another’s death—even when sanctioned by the battlefield context.
Sañjaya reports that a Pāṇḍava warrior, intent on killing the ‘sūtaputra’ (Karna), rapidly releases a massive volley of arrows, intensifying the combat.