Shloka 74
साश्वं तु कर्ण सरथं किरीटी समाचिनोद् भारत वत्सदन्तै: । प्रच्छादयामास दिशश्न बाणै: सर्वप्रयत्नात्तपनीयपुड्खै:
sāśvaṁ tu karṇa-sarathaṁ kirīṭī samācinod bhārata vatsadantaiḥ | pracchādayāmāsa diśaś ca bāṇaiḥ sarva-prayatnāt tapanīya-puṅkhaiḥ ||
اے بھرت نندن! تاجدار ارجن نے کرن کے جسم کو—اس کے گھوڑوں اور رتھ سمیت—‘وتسدنت’ نامی تیروں سے بھر دیا۔ پھر پوری کوشش سے سنہری پروں والے تیروں سے تمام سمتوں کو ڈھانپ دیا۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights kṣatriya-dharma expressed as unwavering effort and mastery in battle: Arjuna applies total resolve and disciplined skill. Ethically, it underscores how duty-driven warfare can still be overwhelming and destructive, reminding the listener that power must be understood within the grave moral weight of Kurukṣetra.
Sañjaya describes Arjuna’s intense counterattack: he saturates Karṇa, his horses, and his chariot with a named variety of arrows (vatsadanta), and then releases a dense volley of bright, gold-feathered shafts that seem to blanket all directions—signaling dominance in that exchange of combat.