Shloka 63
बिभेद सर्वगात्रेषु पुन: पुनररिंदम । सारथिं चास्य भल्लेन रथनीडादपातयत्,शत्रुओंका दमन करनेवाले महाराज! तदनन्तर शिनिपौत्र सात्यकिने सम्पूर्णत:ः लोहमय बाणोंद्वारा कर्णको उसके सारे अंगोंमें बारंबार चोट पहुँचायी और एक भल्लद्दवारा उसके सारथिको रथकी बैठकसे नीचे गिरा दिया
sañjaya uvāca |
bibheda sarvagātreṣu punaḥ punar ariṃdama |
sārathiṃ cāsya bhallena rathanīḍād apātayat ||
Sañjaya said: O subduer of foes, Sātyaki, the grandson of Śini, repeatedly pierced Karṇa in all his limbs with iron-shafted arrows; and with a sharp bhalla he struck down Karṇa’s charioteer from the chariot-seat. The verse underscores the relentless, tactical violence of battle—skill directed toward disabling the enemy’s mobility and command, even as the moral weight of such acts hangs over the field of dharma-war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in dharma-war, prowess is expressed through precise tactics—disabling an opponent’s capacity to fight (here, by wounding and unseating the charioteer). It also implicitly invites reflection on the ethical gravity of battlefield actions: effectiveness and duty operate alongside the human cost.
Sañjaya reports that Sātyaki repeatedly wounds Karṇa across his body with iron arrows and then uses a bhalla to knock Karṇa’s charioteer down from the chariot-seat, a decisive move that can disrupt control of the chariot and momentum in combat.