मरीचिविकचस्येव राजन् भानुमतो वपुः ॥
आसीद् आधिरथेर् घोरं वपुः शरशतार्चिषः ॥
कराभ्याम् आददानस्य संदधानस्य चाशुगान् ॥
विकर्षतो मुञ्चतो वा नान्तरं ददृशू रणे ॥
अग्निचक्रोपमं घोरं मण्डलीकृतम् आयुधम् ॥
कर्णस्यासीन् महाराज सव्यदक्षिणम् अस्यतः ॥
स्वर्णपुङ्खाः सुनिशिताः कर्णचापच्युताः शराः ॥
प्राच्छादयन् महाराज दिशः सूर्यस्य च प्रभाम् ॥
marīcivikacasyeva rājan bhānumato vapuḥ ||
āsīd ādhirather ghoraṃ vapuḥ śaraśatārciṣaḥ ||
karābhyām ādadānasya saṃdadhānasya cāśugān ||
vikarṣato muñcato vā nāntaraṃ dadṛśū raṇe ||
agnicakropamaṃ ghoraṃ maṇḍalīkṛtam āyudham ||
karṇasyāsīn mahārāja savyadakṣiṇam asyataḥ ||
svarṇapuṅkhāḥ suniśitāḥ karṇacāpacyutāḥ śarāḥ ||
prācchādayan mahārāja diśaḥ sūryasya ca prabhām ||
Like [that of] the sun blossoming with rays, O king, was the terrible form of Adhiratha's son, blazing with the fire of a hundred arrows. In the one taking with [both] hands and fitting swift [arrows], drawing or releasing — they saw no interval in the battle. A terrible weapon, [like] a wheel of fire, turned [into] a circle, was Karna's, O great king, [as he] hurled [it] left and right. Arrows [with] golden feathers, exceedingly sharp, flying [from] Karna's bow, veiled, O great king, the directions [of space] and the radiance of the sun.
f907b4c2f90f · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Karna's bow seems a single wheel of fire — so there is no gap between the taking of an arrow and its release: supreme mastery erases the boundary between movements. It is telling that the arrows blot out the very sun: skill turned toward destruction darkens even the light of heaven. The verse teaches that even the greatest skill, raised in an unjust cause, does not illumine but eclipses; the unbroken circle of blows is beautiful, but it veils the light rather than bestowing it.