Shloka 133
कर्णभीमसेनयुद्धम् | Karṇa–Bhīmasena Engagement
Chapter 111
मारुतिं पञ्चविंशत्या भैमसेनिं च पठ्चभि: । उसने इन्द्रके वज्ञकी भाँति घोर टंकार करनेवाले अपने भयंकर धनुषको तानकर भीमसेनको पचीस और उनके पुत्र घटोत्कचको पाँच बाण मारे
mārutiṃ pañcaviṃśatyā bhaimaseniṃ ca pañcabhiḥ | asau indrasya vajrasya bhānti ghora-ṭaṅkāra-karaṃ svakaṃ bhayaṅkaraṃ dhanuḥ tānayetvā bhīmasenaṃ pañcaviṃśatyā ghaṭotkacaṃ ca pañcabhiḥ śaraiḥ vivyādha |
सञ्जय उवाच—मारुतिं पञ्चभिः शरैः भैमसेनं पञ्चविंशत्या। इन्द्रवज्रनिभघोरटङ्कारं धनुः प्रसार्य भीमसेनं पञ्चविंशत्या शरैः, तस्य पुत्रं घटोत्कचं पञ्चभिः शरैश्च विव्याध।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights martial excellence and deliberate action in battle—force is applied with precision (counted arrows), yet the ethical tension remains: skill in violence does not erase the sorrow and moral gravity of war among kin.
Sañjaya reports that a warrior, after drawing his terrifying, loudly twanging bow (likened to Indra’s thunderbolt), shoots Bhīma with twenty-five arrows and then shoots Bhīma’s son Ghaṭotkaca with five arrows.