Shloka 27
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
मृत्योराघातललितं तत्पार्थायोधनं महत् | अपश्याम महीपाल भीरूणां भयवर्धनम्
mṛtyor āghāta-lalitaṃ tat pārthāyodhanaṃ mahat | apaśyāma mahīpāla bhīrūṇāṃ bhaya-vardhanam ||
Sañjaya said: O king, we beheld that great combat between Pārtha and Ayodhana—playful, as it were, with the very blows of Death—an encounter that swelled the terror of the faint-hearted. In that dreadful clash, valor stood as a moral test: courage and steadfastness were demanded, while fear itself became a force that undid the timid.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how true valor is measured when one confronts mortality without yielding to panic. Fear spreads and weakens the timid, while steadfast courage becomes a defining ethical demand in a warrior’s duty (kṣatriya-dharma).
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that he witnessed a mighty duel between Arjuna (Pārtha) and Duryodhana (here called Ayodhana). The fight is described as so fierce that it seemed to toy with Death’s own blows, intensifying fear among those of weaker resolve.