Санджая
तस्य कर्णो हयान् हत्वा शरैः संनतपर्वभिः ॥
सारथिं चास्य भल्लेन द्रुतं निन्ये यमक्षयम् ॥
विरथः सहदेवस् तु खड्गं चर्म समाददे ॥
तद् अप्य् अस्य शरैः कर्णो व्यधमत् प्रहसन्न् इव ॥
ततो गुर्वीं महाघोरां हेमचित्रां महागदाम् ॥
प्रेषयाम् आस समरे वैकर्तनरथं प्रति ॥
ताम् आपतन्तीं सहसा सहदेवप्रवेरिताम् ॥
व्यष्टम्भयच् छरैः कर्णो भूमौ चैनाम् अपातयत् ॥
tasya karṇo hayān hatvā śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ ||
sārathiṃ cāsya bhallena drutaṃ ninye yamakṣayam ||
virathaḥ sahadevas tu khaḍgaṃ carma samādade ||
tad apy asya śaraiḥ karṇo vyadhamat prahasann iva ||
tato gurvīṃ mahāghorāṃ hemacitrāṃ mahāgadām ||
preṣayām āsa samare vaikartanarathaṃ prati ||
tām āpatantīṃ sahasā sahadevapraveritām ||
vyaṣṭambhayac charaiḥ karṇo bhūmau cainām apātayat ||
Karna, having slain his horses with smooth-jointed arrows, swiftly sent his charioteer too to the abode of Yama with a broad-headed shaft. And the chariotless Sahadeva took up sword and shield; these too Karna struck down with arrows, as though smirking. Then Sahadeva hurled in battle a heavy, most terrible, gold-adorned great mace at Vaikartana's chariot. It, suddenly rushing, hurled by Sahadeva, Karna stopped with arrows and brought it down to the ground.
3f6f5693e689 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Sahadeva loses support after support -- horses, charioteer, bow, sword, shield, mace -- and each time reaches for a new weapon. It is telling that Karna beats back everything "as though smirking": between them lies a chasm of mastery. The verse teaches that there is a kind of contest in which one man's courage is powerless before another's skill; but not to surrender, exhausting everything at hand, is itself valor, even when the outcome is settled by the opponent's superiority.