Shloka 1173
Adhyāya 141 — Night duels: Śaineya and Bhūriśravas; Droṇi and Ghaṭotkaca; Bhīma and Duryodhana
नाराचो< भ्यपतत् कर्ण तूर्ण गाण्डीवचोदित: । गाण्डीव धनुषसे छूटा हुआ वह नाराच आकाशमार्गसे तुरंत ही कर्णकी ओर चला, मानो गरुड़ किसी उत्तम सर्पको पकड़नेके लिये जा रहे हों
sañjaya uvāca |
nārāco 'bhyapatat karṇa tūṇaṁ gāṇḍīvacoditaḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—गाण्डीवचोदितो नाराचः तूर्णं कर्णमभ्यपतत्, यथा गरुडो महान्तं सर्पं ग्रहीतुं नभोमार्गे वेगेन धावति।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intention and capability, once set in motion, carry swift and weighty consequences. In the ethical atmosphere of the Mahābhārata’s war, prowess is inseparable from responsibility: a warrior’s resolve, like a released arrow, becomes an irreversible act with moral and narrative repercussions.
Sañjaya describes a powerful nārāca arrow, released and driven by the force of Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva, flying rapidly toward Karṇa. The accompanying simile (as in the received gloss) compares its swift, predatory certainty to Garuḍa swooping to seize a serpent.