Shloka 17

Devanagari script

अतीव तच्चित्रमतुल्यरूपं बभूव युद्ध रविभीमसून्वो: । समाकुलं शस्त्रनिपातघोरं दिवीव राद्यंशुमतो: प्रमत्तम्‌,सूर्यपुत्र कर्ण और भीमकुमार घटोत्कचका वह अत्यन्त विचित्र एवं घमासान युद्ध आकाशमें राहु और सूर्यके उन्मत्त संग्राम-सा प्रतीत होता था। उसकी कहीं तुलना नहीं थी। शस्त्रोंके प्रहारसे वह बड़ा भयंकर जान पड़ता था

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

atīva tac citram atulyarūpaṃ babhūva yuddhaṃ ravibhīmasūnvoḥ |

samākulaṃ śastranipātaghoraṃ divīva rāhvaṃśumatoḥ pramattam ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: The battle between Karṇa, the son of the Sun, and Ghaṭotkaca, Bhīma’s son, became exceedingly strange and of incomparable form. Confused and tumultuous, made dreadful by the crashing descent of weapons, it seemed like the frenzied combat in the heavens between Rāhu and the radiant Sun—without any equal in intensity.

Word by Word

अतीवexceedingly, very

तत्that

चित्रम्marvellous, strange

अतुल्यरूपम्of incomparable form

बभूवbecame, was

युद्धम्battle

रविof the Sun

भीमसून्वोःof the son of Bhima (Ghaṭotkaca)

समाकुलम्confused, tumultuous

शस्त्रनिपातघोरम्terrible with the fall/striking of weapons

दिविin the sky

इवlike, as if

राहुof Rahu

अंशुमतोःof the radiant one (the Sun)

प्रमत्तम्frenzied, impetuous

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Karṇa

Ghaṭotkaca

Bhīma

Ravi (Sun)

Rāhu

Divi (heaven/sky)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse does not offer a direct moral injunction; it heightens the ethical gravity of war by portraying combat as a chaotic, overpowering force. By likening the clash to Rāhu seizing the Sun, it suggests that in unchecked violence even the ‘radiant’ can be obscured—an implicit warning about how battle can eclipse clarity, restraint, and dharmic discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes the fierce duel between Karṇa (son of the Sun) and Ghaṭotkaca (Bhīma’s son). The fighting is depicted as uniquely strange and terrifying, with weapons raining down in confusion, resembling a frenzied celestial struggle between Rāhu and the Sun.