सरथः सध्वजस् तत्र ससूतः पाण्डवस् तदा ॥
प्राच्छाद्यत महाराज कर्णचापच्युतैः शरैः ॥
तस्य कर्णश् चतुःषष्ट्या व्यधमत् कवचं दृढम् ॥
क्रुद्धश् चाप्य् अहनत् पार्श्वे नाराचैर् मर्मभेदिभिः ॥
ततो ऽचिन्त्य महावेगान् कर्णकार्मुकनिःसृतान् ॥
समाश्लिष्यद् असंभ्रान्तः सूतपुत्रं वृकोदरः ॥
स कर्णचापप्रभवान् इषून् आशीविषोपमान् ॥
बिभ्रद् भीमो महाराज न जगाम व्यथां रणे ॥
sarathaḥ sadhvajas tatra sasūtaḥ pāṇḍavas tadā ||
prācchādyata mahārāja karṇacāpacyutaiḥ śaraiḥ ||
tasya karṇaś catuḥṣaṣṭyā vyadhamat kavacaṃ dṛḍham ||
kruddhaś cāpy ahanat pārśve nārācair marmabhedibhiḥ ||
tato 'cintya mahāvegān karṇakārmukaniḥsṛtān ||
samāśliṣyad asaṃbhrāntaḥ sūtaputraṃ vṛkodaraḥ ||
sa karṇacāpaprabhavān iṣūn āśīviṣopamān ||
bibhrad bhīmo mahārāja na jagāma vyathāṃ raṇe ||
There, with his chariot, his banner, and his charioteer, the Pandava was then enveloped, O great king, by arrows loosed from Karna's bow. Karna shattered his sturdy armor with sixty-four arrows and, enraged, struck him in the side with iron arrows that pierced vital points. Then, heedless of the swift arrows loosed from Karna's bow, Vrikodara, unperturbed, closed in on the suta's son.
fb93335264b2 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:17:33 PM UTC
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Bhima, "acintya… asaṃbhrāntaḥ," heedless of the arrows, closes in on Karna with unshaken calm: fearlessness disregards the wound. It is telling that he is not distracted by his own injuries. The verse teaches that focus on the goal dulls pain: whoever is wholly bent on the foe does not count the arrows lodged in him, and this absorption in the task is both his strength and his shield.