Shloka 74
साश्वं तु कर्ण सरथं किरीटी समाचिनोद् भारत वत्सदन्तै: । प्रच्छादयामास दिशश्न बाणै: सर्वप्रयत्नात्तपनीयपुड्खै:
sāśvaṁ tu karṇa-sarathaṁ kirīṭī samācinod bhārata vatsadantaiḥ | pracchādayāmāsa diśaś ca bāṇaiḥ sarva-prayatnāt tapanīya-puṅkhaiḥ ||
ഭരതനന്ദനാ! കിരീടധാരിയായ അർജുനൻ കർണനെ—അവന്റെ കുതിരകളും രഥവും സഹിതം—‘വത്സദന്ത’ എന്ന ബാണങ്ങളാൽ നിറച്ചു. പിന്നെ സർവ്വശ്രമവും ചെലുത്തി സ്വർണ്ണമയമായ പിറകുകളുള്ള ശരങ്ങളാൽ ദിക്കുകളെയെല്ലാം മൂടി.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma expressed as unwavering effort and mastery in battle: Arjuna applies total resolve and disciplined skill. Ethically, it underscores how duty-driven warfare can still be overwhelming and destructive, reminding the listener that power must be understood within the grave moral weight of Kurukṣetra.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna’s intense counterattack: he saturates Karṇa, his horses, and his chariot with a named variety of arrows (vatsadanta), and then releases a dense volley of bright, gold-feathered shafts that seem to blanket all directions—signaling dominance in that exchange of combat.