Shloka 233
मातड़ इव मातड़ं यूथर्षभमिवर्ष भ: । जैसे एक यूथपति गजराजका सामना करनेके लिये दूसरे यूथका अधिपति गजराज चढ़ आता है, उसी प्रकार बाणोंकी वर्षा करते हुए घटोत्कचपर बाणोंकी बौछार करते हुए कर्णने उसके ऊपर निकटसे आक्रमण किया
mātaṅga iva mātaṅgaṁ yūtharṣabham iva vṛṣabhaḥ | yathāikaḥ yūthapatiḥ gajarājaḥ anyasya yūthādhipateḥ gajarājasya samāgamaṁ kartum abhyeti, tathā bāṇavarṣaṁ kurvan ghaṭotkace bāṇabauṣāraṁ nipātayan karṇaḥ tasya upari nikatataḥ abhyakrāmat |
Sañjaya said: Like one mighty elephant charging another, like a dominant bull confronting a rival leader, Karṇa closed in on Ghaṭotkaca at close quarters. Showering him with a dense rain of arrows, Karṇa pressed the attack with the intent to check the terrifying onslaught on the battlefield. The scene underscores the harsh ethic of war in which champions meet force with force, seeking to restrain a destructive power through direct confrontation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the battlefield ethic of kṣatriya-dharma: when a formidable and potentially overwhelming force arises, a responsible champion must confront it directly, using disciplined strength to protect the larger army. It also illustrates how epic poetry uses animal similes to convey intensity, dominance, and the inevitability of violent encounter in war.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa advancing very close to Ghaṭotkaca and attacking him with a heavy barrage of arrows. The comparison is to rival leaders among elephants or bulls charging one another—signaling a decisive, head-on clash between two powerful combatants.