धृष्टद्युम्नश् च भीमश् च सात्यकिश् च महारथः ॥
विव्यधुः कर्णम् आसाद्य त्रिभिस् त्रिभिर् अजिह्मगैः ॥
अर्जुनास्त्रं तु राधेयः संवार्य शरवृष्टिभिः ॥
तेषां त्रयाणां चापानि चिच्छेद विशिखैस् त्रिभिः ॥
ते निकृत्तायुधाः शूरा निर्विषा भुजगा इव ॥
रथशक्तीः समुत्क्षिप्य भृशं सिंहा इवानदन् ॥
dhṛṣṭadyumnaś ca bhīmaś ca sātyakiś ca mahārathaḥ ||
vivyadhuḥ karṇam āsādya tribhis tribhir ajihmagaiḥ ||
arjunāstraṃ tu rādheyaḥ saṃvārya śaravṛṣṭibhiḥ ||
teṣāṃ trayāṇāṃ cāpāni ciccheda viśikhais tribhiḥ ||
te nikṛttāyudhāḥ śūrā nirviṣā bhujagā iva ||
rathaśaktīḥ samutkṣipya bhṛśaṃ siṃhā ivānadan ||
Dhrishtadyumna, Bhima, and the great chariot-warrior Satyaki, closing in on Karna, wounded him with three straight-flying arrows each. But Radheya, warding off Arjuna's weapon with showers of arrows, cut through the bows of those three with three arrows. Those warriors, disarmed, like snakes without venom, raised their chariot-javelins and roared mightily, like lions.
d939f1af2e10 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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The disarmed warriors are likened to 'snakes without venom' — a warrior stripped of his weapon is like a snake whose fangs have been pulled: fearsome to see, but rendered harmless. Yet they do not surrender: raising their javelins, they roar like lions — valor seeks a new weapon the instant the old one is taken. It is telling that Karna alone repels three warriors and disarms them — a measure of his greatness. The verse teaches that a warrior without a weapon is not yet defeated if his spirit remains unbroken — he reaches for something else and fights on; that true strength lies not in equipment but in an indomitable will, which roars like a lion even when its fangs are drawn; and that only a truly great man can overcome three of the mightiest warriors at once, as Karna remains, for all the wrongness of his cause.