Shloka 14
Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 58 — Arjuna’s Arrow-Storm and Relief of Bhīmasena
तस्य कर्णो महाराज शरं कनकभूषणम् | प्रेषयामास संक्रुद्धों मृत्युदण्डमिवापरम्,महाराज! तब कर्णने अत्यन्त कुपित हो धृष्टद्युम्नपर द्वितीय मृत्युदण्डके समान एक सुवर्ण- भूषित बाण चलाया
tasya karṇo mahārāja śaraṃ kanakabhūṣaṇam | preṣayāmāsa saṃkruddho mṛtyudaṇḍam ivāparam ||
Sañjaya said: O King, then Karṇa, inflamed with anger, launched at him a golden-ornamented arrow—like a second rod of Death itself. The verse heightens the moral gravity of the battlefield: wrath turns martial skill into an instrument that resembles Yama’s punishment, underscoring how anger intensifies violence and its consequences in war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns, through stark metaphor, how anger (saṃkruddha) can transform prowess into near-inevitable destruction—‘like Death’s rod’—highlighting the ethical peril of wrath in righteous conduct and warfare.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa, furious, shoots a gold-adorned arrow at his opponent, described as a second ‘rod of Death,’ emphasizing the lethal intensity of the moment in battle.