ता भुजाग्रैर् महावेगा विसृष्टा भुजगोपमाः ॥
दीप्यमाना महाशक्त्यो जग्मुर् आधिरथिं प्रति ॥
ता निकृत्य शितैर् बाणैस् त्रिभिस् त्रिभिर् अजिह्मगैः ॥
ननाद बलवान् कर्णः पार्थाय विसृजञ् शरान् ॥
अर्जुनश् चापि राधेयं विद्ध्वा सप्तभिर् आशुगैः ॥
कर्णाद् अवरजं बाणैर् जघान निशितैस् त्रिभिः ॥
tā bhujāgrair mahāvegā visṛṣṭā bhujagopamāḥ ||
dīpyamānā mahāśaktyo jagmur ādhirathiṃ prati ||
tā nikṛtya śitair bāṇais tribhis tribhir ajihmagaiḥ ||
nanāda balavān karṇaḥ pārthāya visṛjañ śarān ||
arjunaś cāpi rādheyaṃ viddhvā saptabhir āśugaiḥ ||
karṇād avarajaṃ bāṇair jaghāna niśitais tribhiḥ ||
Those great spears, swift, resembling serpents, gleaming, hurled from the shoulders, rushed at the son of Adhiratha. Cutting them down with sharp, straight-flying arrows, three for each, mighty Karna roared, loosing arrows at Partha. And Arjuna, having wounded Radheya with seven swift arrows, slew Karna's younger brother with three sharp arrows.
7081d4abaa3a · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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The duel between Karna and Arjuna proceeds almost evenly — each parries the other's blows; but Arjuna strikes down Karna's brother too, beginning to destroy his kin before his very eyes. Thus the future is foreshadowed: the death of Karna's loved ones precedes his own. It is telling that the narrative keeps count of the fallen brothers — each such death multiplies Karna's grief. The verse teaches that in a contest of equals, advantage comes slowly and at great cost; that a blow against an enemy's kin is both strategy and a particular cruelty of war — destroying not only the fighter but those dear to him; and that the narrative, by marking the deaths of Karna's brothers, prepares the heart for sorrow, for behind every fallen man stands someone's inconsolable grief, and even in the enemy's camp the loss of a son or brother remains a loss.