Shloka 51
कृष्णोपदेशः, अर्जुनस्य क्षमा-याचनम्, कर्णवध-अनुज्ञा
Krishna’s Counsel, Arjuna’s Apology, and Authorization for Karṇa’s Slaying
इसी प्रकार उस युद्धस्थलमें आपकी सेनाको संताप देते हुए पाण्डुकुमार भीमसेनने सौसे भी अधिक रथों और दूसरे सैकड़ों पैदल सैनिकोंका संहार कर डाला ।। प्रताप्यमानं सूर्येण भीमेन च महात्मना । तव सैन्यं संचुकोच चर्माग्नावाहितं यथा,ऊपरसे सूर्य तपा रहे थे और नीचे महामनस्वी भीमसेन संतप्त कर रहे थे। उस अवस्थामें आपकी सेना आगपर रखे हुए चमड़ेके समान सिकुड़कर छोटी हो गयी राजन्! तदनन्तर पाण्डव और कौरव महारथी तीखे बाणोंसे प्रहार करते हुए एक- दूसरेको क्षत-विक्षत करने लगे ।। इति श्रीमहाभारते कर्णपर्वणि संकुलयुद्धे एकपञ्चाशत्तमोडध्याय:
sañjaya uvāca |
iti prakāraṃ tasmin yuddhasthale tava senāṃ santāpayann api pāṇḍukumāro bhīmasenaḥ śatād api adhikān rathān anyāṃś ca śatasaṅkhyān padātīn saṃharitavān ||
pratāpyamānaṃ sūryeṇa bhīmena ca mahātmanā |
tava sainyaṃ saṃcukoca carmāgnāv āhitaṃ yathā ||
tad-anantaraṃ pāṇḍava-kuru-mahārathāḥ tīkṣṇaiḥ bāṇaiḥ praharantaḥ parasparaṃ kṣata-vikṣataṃ cakruḥ ||
Sañjaya said: In that manner, on the battlefield, Bhīmasena—the son of Pāṇḍu—kept scorching your forces and cut down more than a hundred chariots, along with hundreds of foot-soldiers besides. With the sun blazing from above and the great-souled Bhīma burning them from below, your army, O King, shrank like leather held over fire. After this, the Pāṇḍava and Kuru great chariot-warriors, striking with razor-sharp arrows, began to wound and tear one another in close, relentless combat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how external conditions (the blazing sun) and human agency (Bhīma’s relentless assault) together can collapse morale and cohesion in war. Ethically, it underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring tension: even when warriors act within kṣatriya-duty, the cumulative suffering and dehumanizing momentum of battle are starkly exposed through vivid imagery.
Sañjaya reports to the king that Bhīma, son of Pāṇḍu, is devastating the Kaurava forces—destroying over a hundred chariots and many foot-soldiers. Under the combined pressure of the sun’s heat and Bhīma’s attack, the army ‘shrinks’ like leather held over fire. Then the elite chariot-warriors of both sides close in and wound each other with sharp arrows.