Shloka 8
कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
आयुधस्य परिज्ञानं रुतं च मृगपक्षिणाम् | भारश्षाप्यतिभारकश्न शल्यानां च प्रतिक्रिया
āyudhasya parijñānaṃ rutaṃ ca mṛgapakṣiṇām | bhāraś cāpy atibhārakaś ca śalyānāṃ ca pratikriyā ||
桑阇耶说道：“（他）精通兵器之学；能解读走兽飞禽的啼鸣；懂得衡量负载——适度与过重——并且也知晓应对箭矢与碎片所致创伤的疗法与对策。”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ideal of comprehensive competence in a warrior’s world: mastery of arms, attentiveness to signs in nature, and practical wisdom about bodily limits and medical remedies. Ethically, it suggests that power in war is not only aggression but also disciplined knowledge and responsibility toward life and injury.
Sañjaya is describing a person’s capabilities and training in the context of the Karṇa Parva’s battlefield narrative—enumerating skills such as weapon-expertise, interpreting animal and bird calls (often treated as omens), judging burdens, and knowing treatments for wounds caused by embedded missiles or splinters.