Shloka 10
शरवर्षेण महता प्रत्यवारयदागतान् | नरेश्वर! वैकर्तन कर्णने वहाँ आये हुए सम्पूर्ण महाधनुर्धरोंको अपने बाणोंकी भारी वर्षासे रोक दिया ।। शरौघान् विसृजन्तस्ते प्रेरयन्तश्न॒ तोमरान्
sañjaya uvāca | śaravarṣeṇa mahatā pratyavārayad āgatān | nareśvara! vaikartanaḥ karṇo vahāṃ āye hue sampūrṇa mahādhanuḥdharān ko apane bāṇoṃ kī bhārī varṣā se rok diyā || śaraughān visṛjantaste prerayantashna tomarān ||
Sanjaya said: O king, with a tremendous shower of arrows, Vaikartana Karna checked the oncoming warriors—those great bowmen who had advanced against him. As they kept releasing volleys of shafts and hurling spears, Karna’s counter-fire held them back, turning their assault into a stalled advance amid the storm of weapons.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the kṣatriya ethic of steadfastness under attack: disciplined force used to check an advancing enemy. It also highlights the Mahābhārata’s moral tension—martial excellence can be admirable as duty, yet it serves a destructive war, inviting reflection on the cost of prowess when dharma is contested.
Sanjaya reports to the king that Karna, called Vaikartana, halts the advance of many great archers by unleashing an intense rain of arrows. The battlefield is depicted as a mutual exchange of missiles—streams of arrows and hurled spears—yet Karna’s counterattack successfully checks the oncoming force.