Shloka 16
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
स निर्भिद्य भुजं सव्यं माधवस्य महात्मन: । अयस्मयो हेमदण्डो जगाम धरणीं तदा,सुवर्णमय दण्डवाला वह लोहनिर्मित तोमर महात्मा श्रीकृष्णकी बायीं भुजापर चोट करके तत्काल धरतीपर गिर पड़ा
sa nirbhidya bhujaṃ savyaṃ mādhavasya mahātmanaḥ | ayasmayo hemadaṇḍo jagāma dharaṇīṃ tadā ||
Sañjaya said: Having pierced the left arm of the great-souled Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa), that iron weapon with a golden staff at once fell down upon the earth. The scene underscores how, amid the fury of war, even a strike that reaches the divine charioteer does not overturn the larger moral order; it becomes another moment in the unfolding of fate and duty on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even in violent conflict, events unfold within a larger moral and causal order (karma and fate). A blow that reaches Kṛṣṇa highlights the intensity of war, yet the narrative implies that dharma is not decided by momentary injury but by steadfast duty and the destined course of the battle.
Sañjaya reports that an iron weapon with a golden shaft pierces Kṛṣṇa’s left arm and then falls to the ground, marking a dramatic moment in the battlefield account during the Karṇa Parva.