Shloka 21
ध्वजं शरासनं चैव शरावापं च भारत । तब क्रोधसे व्याकुल हुए भीमसेनने कर्णको आठ बाण मारे। भारत! शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाले महाबली भीमसेनने हँसते हुए-से उन तेज धारवाले तीखे बाणोंद्वारा कर्णके ध्वज धनुष और तरकसको काट गिराया ।। १९-२० $ ।। कर्णोउप्यन्यद् धनुर्गह्मु हेमपृष्ठं दुरासदम्,तत्पश्चात् राधापुत्र कर्णने पुन: सोनेकी पीठवाला दूसरा दुर्जय धनुष हाथमें लेकर रथपर रखे हुए बाणोंद्वारा भीमसेनके रीकछके समान रंगवाले काले घोड़ों और दोनों पार्श्वरक्षकोंको शीघ्र ही मार डाला
sañjaya uvāca | dhvajaṁ śarāsanaṁ caiva śarāvāpaṁ ca bhārata |
Sañjaya said: O Bhārata, with sharp, keen arrows Bhīmasena, though shaken by wrath, struck Karṇa and cut down his banner, his bow, and his quiver. Karṇa then seized another bow—gold-backed and hard to overcome—and thereafter, the son of Rādhā swiftly slew with the arrows set upon his chariot Bhīmasena’s dark horses, black as bears, along with the two flank-guards. The passage underscores how, in the fury of battle, prowess and retaliation escalate, and how the destruction of an opponent’s insignia and equipment is both a tactical act and a symbolic blow to honor.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The episode highlights how anger in war drives rapid escalation: symbolic humiliation (cutting the banner and weapons) provokes immediate counteraction. It also reflects kṣatriya-dharma’s harsh reality—valor and tactical strikes are praised, yet the narrative implicitly warns that wrath (krodha) clouds steadiness and multiplies destruction.
Sañjaya narrates that Bhīma, in anger, uses sharp arrows to sever Karṇa’s banner, bow, and quiver. Karṇa quickly replaces his bow with another formidable, gold-backed one and retaliates by killing Bhīma’s dark horses and the two side-guards protecting the chariot.