ततो ऽर्जुनः प्रत्यविध्यद् आपतन्तं त्रिभिः शरैः ॥
कर्णं वैकर्तनं धीमान् विकृष्य बलवद् धनुः ॥
तेषां शराणां वेगेन शितानां तिग्मतेजसाम् ॥
विमुह्यमानो राधेयो यत्नात् तम् अनुधावति ॥
ताव् उभाव् अप्य् अनिर्देश्यौ लाघवाज् जयतां वरौ ॥
अयुध्येतां सुसंरब्धाव् अन्योन्यविजयैषिणौ ॥
tato 'rjunaḥ pratyavidhyad āpatantaṃ tribhiḥ śaraiḥ ||
karṇaṃ vaikartanaṃ dhīmān vikṛṣya balavad dhanuḥ ||
teṣāṃ śarāṇāṃ vegena śitānāṃ tigmatejasām ||
vimuhyamāno rādheyo yatnāt tam anudhāvati ||
tāv ubhāv apy anirdeśyau lāghavāj jayatāṃ varau ||
ayudhyetāṃ susaṃrabdhāv anyonyavijayaiṣiṇau ||
"Then Arjuna, the wise one, drawing his bow with force, struck the attacking Karna Vaikartana with three arrows; from the swiftness of those sharp, blazing arrows Karna, falling into confusion, pressed hard after him. Both, ungraspable in their swiftness, foremost among conquerors, fought on, enraged, each seeking to overcome the other."
b625730baaae · published Jul 12, 2026, 5:44:41 PM UTC
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Here two incomparable fighters meet -- and neither yields to the other. It is telling that Karna, [supposedly] fighting a brahmin, meets his equal: between Arjuna and Karna there is an equality of the unconquerable. Here glimmers a foreshadowing of their fateful enmity, which even now ripens beneath the cover of this first duel. Thus the verse shows a clash of the great in which the coming feud already glimmers; and the duel at the svayamvara is a prelude to the battle destined to decide the fate of the lineage.