Shloka 256
अभ्यापतत् कर्णसुतो महारथं यथा महेन्द्र नमुचि: पुरा तथा । महासमरमें सहस्रों बाण धारण करनेवाले भयंकर नरवीर महारथी अर्जुनको अपनी ओर आते देख कर्णकुमार वृषसेन भी उनकी ओर उसी प्रकार दौड़ा, जैसे पूर्वकालमें नमुचिने देवराज इन्द्रपर आक्रमण किया था
sañjaya uvāca |
abhyāpatat karṇasuto mahārathaṃ yathā mahendraṃ namuciḥ purā tathā |
Sanjaya said: Karna’s son, a great chariot-warrior, rushed at the mighty hero just as Namuci of old once assailed Mahendra (Indra). In the dreadful press of battle, seeing Arjuna—terrible and steadfast, bearing countless arrows—advancing toward him, Vṛṣasena charged to meet him, invoking the ancient paradigm of a bold challenger striking at the lord of the gods.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya valor and the epic ethic of meeting a formidable opponent head-on. By likening Vṛṣasena’s charge to Namuci’s assault on Indra, it underscores how war magnifies daring and ambition—yet also hints at the moral ambiguity of challenging a superior power, a recurring Mahābhārata tension between courage and rightful order.
In the Karṇa Parva battle sequence, Vṛṣasena (Karna’s son) sees Arjuna advancing in the fierce melee and charges directly at him. Sanjaya frames this moment with a mythic comparison: as Namuci once attacked Indra, so Vṛṣasena now rushes at the great warrior.