Shloka 72
ततः प्रहस्याधिरथिरन्यदादाय कार्मुकम्,सहस्रशो महाराज रुक्मपुड्खान् सुतेजनान् | यह देखकर अधिरथपुत्र कर्ण ठठाकर हँस पड़ा और समरांगणमें कुपित हो उसने शत्रुविनाशकारी सुदृढ़ प्रत्यंचावाला अत्यन्त वेगशाली दूसरा धनुष हाथमें लेकर उसपर कुन्तीपुत्रके वधकी इच्छासे सुवर्णमय पंखवाले सहस्रों अत्यन्त तीखे बाणोंका संधान किया
tataḥ prahasyādhirathir anyad ādāya kārmukam, sahasraśo mahārāja rukmapuṅkhān sutejanān |
Sañjaya said: Then Adhiratha’s son Karṇa laughed aloud and, taking up another bow, in anger on the battlefield he fixed—O King—thousands of exceedingly sharp arrows with golden feathers, intent on slaying Kuntī’s son. The scene underscores how pride and wrath can harden into a single-minded resolve for destruction, even among the foremost warriors.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how derision and anger can fuse into a ruthless determination to kill. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, martial prowess is not morally neutral: the inner state—pride, rage, and fixation on vengeance—shapes the dharmic quality of action even on a battlefield.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, laughing, switches to another bow and rapidly sets thousands of sharp, golden-feathered arrows, driven by anger and the intention to slay Kuntī’s son (contextually, Arjuna) amid the ongoing combat of Droṇa Parva.