Shloka 48
Droṇa-parva Adhyāya 114 — Karṇa–Bhīmasena Missile Exchange, Disarmament, and Arjuna’s Intervention
काम्बोजै्हि समेष्यामि तीक्ष्णराशीविषोपमै:
kāmbojaiḥ samaiṣyāmi tīkṣṇa-rāśi-viṣopamaiḥ
Sañjaya berkata: “Aku akan mara bersama orang Kāmboja—lelaki yang bagaikan gugusan racun yang tajam—maut pada saat serbuan mereka.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The line underscores how war rhetoric normalizes extreme harm: allies are praised for being ‘poison-like’—a reminder that in the Mahābhārata, martial effectiveness often conflicts with ethical restraint, and the narrator’s imagery invites reflection on the moral cost of celebrating lethal power.
Sañjaya, narrating events of the Kurukṣetra war, reports a combatant’s intention to advance in concert with the Kāmboja warriors, describing them as fiercely dangerous—like a concentrated, sharp poison—emphasizing the intensity of the impending assault.