Shloka 6
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
अस्ति वायमिषु: शल्य सुपुड्खो रक्तभोजन: । एकतूणीशय: पत्री सुधौत: समलंकृत:,शल्य! मेरा यह सुन्दर पंखोंसे युक्त बाण शत्रुओंका रक्त पीनेवाला है। यह अकेले ही एक तरकसमें रखा जाता है, जो बहुत ही स्वच्छ, कंकपत्रयुक्त और भलीभाँति अलंकृत है
asti vāyam iṣuḥ śalya supuḍkho raktabhojanaḥ | ekatūṇīśayaḥ patrī sudhautaḥ samalaṅkṛtaḥ ||
Karna nói: “Hỡi Śalya, đây là mũi tên của ta—lông vũ chỉnh tề, hiểm độc—kẻ ‘nuốt’ máu quân thù. Nó được đặt riêng một mình trong một ống tên duy nhất, có cánh lông, được tẩy rửa tinh sạch và trang sức mỹ lệ.”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the warrior-code (kṣatriya ethos) where weapons become extensions of vow and identity; ethically, it shows how resolve in war can harden into a celebratory image of violence, revealing the tension between duty in battle and the moral cost of bloodshed.
Karna addresses Śalya and displays/describes a particular arrow—kept alone in a quiver, well-fletched, clean, and ornamented—boasting that it will drink the blood of enemies, thereby asserting confidence and threatening opponents before or during combat.