Shloka 30
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ५७
Arjuna’s targeted advance; Śalya–Karṇa dialogue; interception attempts
वैदूर्यदण्डांश्व शुभान् पतितानड्कुशान् भुवि । बद्धा: सादिभुजाग्रेषु सुवर्णविकृता: कशा:,“जिनमें वैदूर्यमणिके डंडे लगे हुए हैं, ऐसे बहुत-से सुन्दर अंकुश पृथ्वीपर पड़े हैं। सवारोंके हाथोंमें सटे हुए कितने ही सुवर्णनिर्मित कोड़े कटकर गिरे हैं
sañjaya uvāca
vaidūryadaṇḍāṁś ca śubhān patitān aṅkuśān bhuvi |
baddhāḥ sādibhuja-agreṣu suvarṇa-vikṛtāḥ kaśāḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “On the ground lay many fine goads, their handles set with vaidūrya gems. And many gold-fashioned whips—once held close in the riders’ hands—had been severed and fallen. The scene shows how the instruments of control and command in war are themselves broken, marking the collapse of order amid the violence.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of worldly power and control: even the tools meant to direct and restrain (goads and whips) are shattered in war, suggesting how violence dissolves order and mastery.
Sañjaya describes the battlefield aftermath: ornate goads with gem-studded handles and gold-made whips that had been in riders’ hands are now cut off and lying on the ground, indicating intense fighting and the fall of charioteers/horsemen.