Shloka 246
कृष्णोपदेशः, अर्जुनस्य क्षमा-याचनम्, कर्णवध-अनुज्ञा
Krishna’s Counsel, Arjuna’s Apology, and Authorization for Karṇa’s Slaying
कर्ण रणे महाराज पुत्राणां तव पश्यताम् । महाराज! तदनन्तर युद्धका हौसला रखनेवाले भीमसेनने अपने बाणोंसे आपके पुत्रोंके देखते-देखते कर्णको आच्छादित कर दिया
karṇa raṇe mahārāja putrāṇāṃ tava paśyatām | mahārāja! tad-anantaraṃ yuddha-kā hauslā rakhanewāle bhīmasenane apne bāṇoṃse āpke putroṃke dekhte-dekhte karṇako ācchādita kara diyā
Sañjaya said: O King, while your sons looked on, Karṇa stood in the thick of battle. Then, O great king, Bhīmasena—undaunted and resolute in war—showered Karṇa with arrows, covering him before the very eyes of your sons. The scene underscores how courage and relentless effort on the battlefield can overturn expectations, even under the gaze of powerful witnesses, and how war tests not only strength but steadfastness of will.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights battlefield resolve: valor is shown not merely by status or spectatorship, but by sustained effort under pressure. It also implies an ethical tension of war—public witnessing does not prevent violence, but it intensifies responsibility and the moral weight of outcomes.
Sanjaya reports to Dhritarashtra that, as the Kaurava princes watched, Bhima launched a fierce arrow-shower at Karna, effectively covering or obscuring him with missiles in the midst of combat.