भीमसेनस् तदाह्वानं कर्णान् नामर्षयद् युधि ॥
अर्धमण्डलम् आवृत्य सूतपुत्रम् अयोधयत् ॥
अवक्रगामिभिर् बाणैर् अभ्यवर्षन् महायसैः ॥
द्वैरथे दंशितं यत्तं सर्वशस्त्रभृतां वरम् ॥
विधित्सुः कलहस्यान्तं जिघांसुः कर्णम् अक्षिणोत् ॥
तं च हत्वेतरान् सर्वान् हन्तुकामो महाबलः ॥
bhīmasenas tadāhvānaṃ karṇān nāmarṣayad yudhi ||
ardhamaṇḍalam āvṛtya sūtaputram ayodhayat ||
avakragāmibhir bāṇair abhyavarṣan mahāyasaiḥ ||
dvairathe daṃśitaṃ yattaṃ sarvaśastrabhṛtāṃ varam ||
vidhitsuḥ kalahasyāntaṃ jighāṃsuḥ karṇam akṣiṇot ||
taṃ ca hatvetarān sarvān hantukāmo mahābalaḥ ||
Bhimasena then could not endure Karna's challenge in battle; turning into a half-circle, he engaged the suta's son. He showered him with straight-flying iron arrows — the foremost of weapon-bearers, armored and ready for the duel. Wishing to end the quarrel, wishing to kill, Bhima wounded Karna — and having slain him, the mighty one wished then to kill all the others too.
6dd90ae302cb · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:17:33 PM UTC
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Bhima "vidhitsuḥ kalahasya antam" wishes to end the strife by slaying Karna: behind the fury lies the drive to uproot the enmity itself. It is telling that even the longing to kill is moved by the desire to end the quarrel. The verse teaches that even the terrible wrath of the righteous aims at ending evil: he strains to slay not for the pleasure of killing but to cut off the strife — for to dharma even war itself is a path to its own ending.