Shloka 253
Adhyāya 40 (Book 7, Droṇa-parva): Abhimanyu’s Rapid Advance and Battlefield Disruption
अभ्यवर्षत संक्रुद्धः पुत्रस्य हितकृत् तव । यह सुनकर आपके पुत्रका हित करनेवाला कर्ण अत्यन्त क्रोधमें भरकर दुर्द्धर्ष वीर अभिमन्युपर तीखे बाणोंकी वर्षा करने लगा
sañjaya uvāca | abhyavarṣata saṅkruddhaḥ putrasya hitakṛt tava |
Sañjaya said: Hearing this, Karṇa—intent on securing the welfare of your son—became inflamed with anger and began to shower Abhimanyu with a fierce rain of sharp arrows. The scene underscores how loyalty to one’s chosen side, when fused with wrath, intensifies the violence of war and narrows the space for restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension central to the Mahābhārata: devotion to one’s ally and cause (here, Karṇa’s commitment to Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son) can become ethically perilous when driven by anger, leading to disproportionate violence and diminished discernment.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, provoked and determined to protect Duryodhana’s interests, launches an intense barrage of arrows at Abhimanyu, escalating the combat around the young Pāṇḍava hero.