संजय उवाच
सो ऽभिगर्जन् धनुष्पाणिर् ज्यां विकर्षन् पुनः पुनः ॥
तयोर् महात्मनोस् तूर्णं रथान्तरम् अवापतत् ॥
सो ऽविध्यद् दशभिर् बाणैर् अभिमन्युं दुरासदम् ॥
सच्छत्रध्वजयन्तारं साश्वम् आशु स्मयन्न् इव ॥
पितृपैतामहं कर्म कुर्वाणम् अतिमानुषम् ॥
दृष्ट्वार्दितं शरैः कार्ष्णिं त्वदीया हृषिताभवन् ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
so 'bhigarjan dhanuṣpāṇir jyāṃ vikarṣan punaḥ punaḥ ||
tayor mahātmanos tūrṇaṃ rathāntaram avāpatat ||
so 'vidhyad daśabhir bāṇair abhimanyuṃ durāsadam ||
sacchatradhvajayantāraṃ sāśvam āśu smayann iva ||
pitṛpaitāmahaṃ karma kurvāṇam atimānuṣam ||
dṛṣṭvārditaṃ śaraiḥ kārṣṇiṃ tvadīyā hṛṣitābhavan ||
Roaring, bow in hand, drawing the bowstring again and again, he [Karna's brother] swiftly burst into the gap between those two great warriors. He wounded the unassailable Abhimanyu with ten arrows -- along with his parasol, banner, charioteer, and horses -- at once, smirking. Seeing the son of Krishna [Subhadra], performing a superhuman feat worthy of fathers and forefathers, wounded by arrows, your [warriors] rejoiced.
e4b5e25ea8ce · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:22:09 PM UTC
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The boy's feat is called 'worthy of fathers and forefathers' -- he did not diminish but carried forward the glory of a great line: in him lives again the valor of Arjuna, of Pandu, of Indra himself. It is telling that your warriors 'rejoiced' merely because the boy could at last be wounded -- a measure of how unassailable he was. The verse teaches that a worthy descendant does not disgrace but carries forward the glory of his forebears, manifesting their valor in himself; that the enemies' joy at a single wound dealt to the boy testifies to his greatness more truly than any praise; and that the inheritance of a line is not the burden of a name but a living fire, which a true son carries onward, doing deeds 'worthy of fathers and forefathers.'