Shloka 28

Devanagari script

स सायक: कर्णभुजप्रसृष्टो हुताशनार्कप्रतिम: सुघोर: । गुणच्युत: कर्णधनु:प्रमुक्तो वियद्गत: प्राज्वलदन्तरिक्षे

Transliteration

sa sāyakaḥ karṇabhujaprasṛṣṭo hutāśanārkapratimaḥ sughoraḥ | guṇacyutaḥ karṇadhanuḥpramukto viyadgataḥ prājvalad antarīkṣe ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：那支箭由迦尔那雄健的臂力放出——凶怖非常，炽烈如火如日——因弓弦一滑，便自迦尔那之弓迸射而出。它疾冲苍穹，划破长空时焰光腾起，在战阵狂怒之中显出可怖的征兆。

Word by Word

सःhe/that (arrow)

सायकःarrow

कर्ण-भुज-प्रसृष्टःreleased by Karna's arm

हुताशन-अर्क-प्रतिमःlike fire and the sun

सु-घोरःvery terrible

गुण-च्युतःslipped from the bowstring

कर्ण-धनुः-प्रमुक्तःshot from Karna's bow

वियत्-गतःgone into the sky

प्राज्वलत्blazing

अन्तरिक्षेin the mid-air/sky

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Karṇa

arrow (sāyaka)

Karṇa’s bow (dhanuḥ)

bowstring (guṇa)

sky (viyat)

mid-air/atmosphere (antarīkṣa)

fire (hutāśana)

sun (arka)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how even the most formidable power can be checked by a small failure of means (the bowstring slipping). In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, it underscores the fragility of human control in war and the way fate, circumstance, and minute lapses can overturn confidence and alter outcomes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes an arrow shot by Karṇa: it is terrifying and radiant like fire and the sun. Yet it is said to be ‘guṇacyuta’—having slipped from the bowstring—so it flies up into the sky, blazing through the atmosphere, suggesting a misfire or an ominous deviation amid the battle.