Shloka 62
प्रताप्य सेनामामित्रीं दीप्तै: शरगभस्तिभि: । बलिनार्जुनकालेन नीतो><स्तं कर्णभास्कर:
pratāpya senām āmitrīṁ dīptaiḥ śaragabhastibhiḥ | balinārjunakālena nīto 'staṁ karṇabhāskaraḥ ||
Sañjaya said: Having scorched the hostile army with blazing rays in the form of arrow-showers, the sun-like Karṇa was driven to his setting by mighty Arjuna—Time itself in battle. The verse frames Karṇa’s fall not merely as a personal defeat, but as the moral and inevitable turning of the war’s tide under the force of destiny and righteous consequence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses the sun-setting metaphor to show that even the most radiant warrior-power is subject to Kāla (Time) and the larger moral-inevitable movement of the war. Heroism burns brightly, yet it must yield when destiny and consequence converge.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa fiercely scorching the opposing forces with brilliant arrow-volleys, but then being ‘set’—overcome and brought down—by the mighty Arjuna, portrayed as Time itself.