ततः कर्णः कृपो द्रोणो द्रौणिर् गान्धारराट् शलः ॥
शल्यो भूरिश्रवाः क्राथः सोमदत्तो विविंशतिः ॥
वृषसेनः सुषेणश् च कुण्डभेदी प्रतर्दनः ॥
वृन्दारको ललित्थश् च प्रबाहुर् दीर्घलोचनः ॥
दुर्योधनश् च संक्रुद्धः शरवर्षैर् अवाकिरन् ॥
सो ऽतिक्रुद्धो महेष्वासैर् अभिमन्युर् अजिह्मगैः ॥
शरम् आदत्त कर्णाय परकायावभेदनम् ॥
tataḥ karṇaḥ kṛpo droṇo drauṇir gāndhārarāṭ śalaḥ ||
śalyo bhūriśravāḥ krāthaḥ somadatto viviṃśatiḥ ||
vṛṣasenaḥ suṣeṇaś ca kuṇḍabhedī pratardanaḥ ||
vṛndārako lalitthaś ca prabāhur dīrghalocanaḥ ||
duryodhanaś ca saṃkruddhaḥ śaravarṣair avākiran ||
so 'tikruddho maheṣvāsair abhimanyur ajihmagaiḥ ||
śaram ādatta karṇāya parakāyāvabhedanam ||
Then Karna, Kripa, Drona, the son of Drona, the king of Gandhara, Shala, Shalya, Bhurishravas, Kratha, Somadatta, Vivimshati, Vrishasena and Sushena, Kundabhedin, Pratardana, Vrindaraka and Lalittha, Prabahu, Dirghalochana [surrounded him]. He, Abhimanyu, extremely enraged, showered with straight-flying arrows by the great archers, took up an arrow meant for Karna, one that would pierce the enemy's body.
1ed03f2d381d · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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Once again a long list -- now two dozen warriors at once against the boy; and he, wounded, dares to aim at Karna himself. The disproportion reaches its limit: the whole great enemy host has converged on one, yet he does not retreat but chooses the fiercest of them as his mark. It is telling that the boy, showered with the arrows of twenty men, does not merely defend himself but attacks. The verse teaches that courage is measured not by the number of enemies but by whether the besieged dares to attack rather than only defend; that the valiant, even ringed by the mightiest, chooses the worthiest target for himself rather than evading it; and that the tradition, by piling up this list, only makes plainer the solitude of the boy against whom the whole flower of the enemy camp has risen -- and thereby the guilt for what is about to happen falls all the more indelibly upon them all.