Shloka 18
अद्य चाहमनाधुष्यं केशवाप्रतिमं शरम् । उत्स्रक्ष्यामीह यः कर्ण जीविताद् भ्रंशयिष्यति,“आज मैं ऐसा अनुपम और अजेय बाण छोड़ूँगा, जो कर्णको उसके प्राणोंसे वंचित कर देगा
adya cāham anādhuṣyaṁ keśavāpratimaṁ śaram | utsrakṣyāmīha yaḥ karṇaṁ jīvitād bhraṁśayiṣyati ||
Sañjaya said: “Today I shall release here an incomparable arrow, invincible and like Keśava himself in might—an arrow that will strip Karṇa of his very life.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the grim moral intensity of dharma-yuddha: even when combat is framed as duty, the intent to take life is expressed with solemn resolve. The comparison to Keśava underscores how warriors invoke divine standards of power, while the narrative reminds the listener that human agency and fate converge on the battlefield.
Sañjaya reports a decisive moment in the battle: a warrior (implied by context) declares the intention to release an irresistible, incomparable arrow—likened in power to Keśava—that will cause Karṇa to fall from life, i.e., to be killed.