Shloka 273
अध्याय २६ — शल्यस्य सारथ्य-नियोजनं, कर्णस्य प्रस्थानं, उत्पातदर्शनं च
Chapter 26: Śalya appointed as charioteer; Karṇa’s departure; portents
ऐन्द्रमस्त्रममेयात्मा प्रादुश्चक्रे महारथ: । उनसे पीड़ित होकर इन्द्रके तुल्य पराक्रमी तथा अमेय आत्मबलसे सम्पन्न महारथी अर्जुनने ऐन्द्रास्त्र प्रकट किया
aindram astram ameyātmā prāduścakre mahārathaḥ |
ऐन्द्रमस्त्रममेयात्मा महारथः प्रादुश्चकार।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights disciplined power: even overwhelming force is framed as a measured response within kṣatriya-dharma. Divine weapons are not mere displays of might but instruments used under the constraints of duty, proportionality, and battlefield responsibility.
In the Karṇa Parva battle sequence, Arjuna, hard-pressed by hostile attacks, counters by manifesting the Aindra astra—Indra’s celestial weapon—signaling an escalation to divine armaments in the duel-like intensity of the war.