Shloka 59
ततो वृषो बाणनिपातकोपितो महोरगो दण्डविघद्धितो यथा । तदाशुकारी व्यसृजच्छरोत्तमान् महाविष: सर्प इवोत्तमं विषम्
tato vṛṣo bāṇanipātakopito mahorago daṇḍavighaṭṭhito yathā | tadā śukārī vyasṛjac charottamān mahāviṣaḥ sarpa ivottamaṃ viṣam ||
सञ्जय उवाच—ततो वृषो बाणनिपातकोपितो महोरगो दण्डविघट्टितो यथा। तदाशुकारी व्यसृजच्छरोत्तमान् महाविषः सर्प इवोत्तमं विषम्॥
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how injury and provocation can inflame anger, causing a person to unleash disproportionate harm—symbolized by the serpent’s deadliest poison. Ethically, it points to the importance of restraint (saṃyama) even amid conflict, since rage tends to intensify destruction rather than resolve it.
After being struck by a heavy shower of arrows, Vṛṣa (a warrior, commonly understood as Karṇa by epithet) becomes furious and retaliates by releasing his best arrows, compared to a powerful snake provoked by a stick and then emitting its most potent venom.