Shloka 9
रात्रौ युद्धप्रवृत्तिः — Night Battle Begins; Duryodhana’s Protective Orders for Droṇa
Droṇa-parva 139
खं पूरयन् महावेगान् खगमान् गृध्रवासस: । सुवर्णविकृतां श्षित्रान मुमोचाधिरथि: शरान्,अधिरथपुत्र कर्णने अन्तरिक्षको व्याप्त करते हुए महान् वेगशाली, आकाशमें विचरनेवाले गृध्रके पंखोंसे युक्त और सुवर्णके बने हुए विचित्र बाण चलाये
sañjaya uvāca | khaṃ pūrayan mahāvegān khagamān gṛdhravāsaḥ | suvarṇavikṛtān citrān mumocādhirathiḥ śarān ||
सञ्जय उवाच—खं पूरयन् महावेगान् खगमान् गृध्रवाससः। सुवर्णविकृतान् चित्रान् मुमोचाधिरथिः शरान्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how dazzling skill and weaponry can magnify harm when unrestrained by dharma; it invites reflection on the ethical limits of power in war, where spectacle and speed do not equal righteousness.
Sañjaya describes Karṇa discharging extraordinary, gold-wrought arrows with vulture-like wings, so numerous and swift that they seem to fill and dominate the sky.