Shloka 25
तं कर्णो भ्रातरश्चास्य नामृष्यन्त परंतप । ते भीमसेन नाराचैर्जघ्नुराशीविषोपमै:
taṃ karṇo bhrātaraś cāsya nāmṛṣyanta paraṃtapa | te bhīmasenaṃ nārācair jaghnur āśīviṣopamaiḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Karṇa and his brothers could not endure that (feat/affront). O scorcher of foes, they struck Bhīmasena with nārāca arrows, like venomous serpents—an act driven by wounded pride and the ruthless momentum of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how inability to endure another’s success or challenge (asahishṇutā) quickly turns into retaliatory violence. Ethically, it points to the destructive chain where wounded pride and anger override restraint, escalating conflict in war.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa and his brothers, provoked by what had just happened, could not bear it and therefore attacked Bhīma, striking him with nārāca arrows described as deadly like venomous serpents.