Shloka 47
उद्धिन्नरुधिर: कर्ण: क्रुद्ध: सर्प इव श्वसन् | ध्वजं चिच्छेद भल्लेन त्रिभिविव्याध पाण्डवम्
uddhinnarudhiraḥ karṇaḥ kruddhaḥ sarpa iva śvasan | dhvajaṃ ciccheda bhallena tribhir vivyādha pāṇḍavam ||
Sañjaya said: Karṇa, his body streaming with blood, raged and breathed like a hissing serpent. With a sharp bhalla-arrow he cut down the banner, and with three more shafts he pierced the Pāṇḍava—an image of wrath and wounded pride driving the violence of the battlefield onward.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how injury and wounded honor can intensify anger, pushing a warrior toward escalating violence. Ethically, it serves as a cautionary image: in war, passions (krodha) can overtake discernment, even while one acts under the banner of kṣatriya-duty.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa, bleeding and furious, attacking his opponent: he severs the enemy chariot’s banner with a bhalla-arrow and then strikes the Pāṇḍava with three additional arrows, signaling both tactical dominance and heightened rage.