रुक्मपुङ्खैर् अजिह्माग्रैः शरैश् छिन्नतनुच्छदौ ॥
रुधिरौघपरिक्लिन्नौ व्यभ्राजेतां महामृधे ॥
तपनीयनिभौ चित्रौ कल्पवृक्षाव् इवाद्भुतौ ॥
किंशुकाव् इव चोत्फुल्लौ व्यकाशेतां रणाजिरे ॥
वृषसेनस् ततो राजन् नवभिर् द्रुपदं शरैः ॥
विद्ध्वा विव्याध सप्तत्या पुनश् चान्यैस् त्रिभिः शरैः ॥
ततः शरसहस्राणि विमुञ्चन् विबभौ तदा ॥
कर्णपुत्रो महाराज वर्षमाण इवाम्बुदः ॥
rukmapuṅkhair ajihmāgraiḥ śaraiś chinnatanucchadau ||
rudhiraughapariklinnau vyabhrājetāṃ mahāmṛdhe ||
tapanīyanibhau citrau kalpavṛkṣāv ivādbhutau ||
kiṃśukāv iva cotphullau vyakāśetāṃ raṇājire ||
vṛṣasenas tato rājan navabhir drupadaṃ śaraiḥ ||
viddhvā vivyādha saptatyā punaś cānyais tribhiḥ śaraiḥ ||
tataḥ śarasahasrāṇi vimuñcan vibabhau tadā ||
karṇaputro mahārāja varṣamāṇa ivāmbudaḥ ||
With golden-feathered, straight-tipped arrows — their armor cut through, bathed in streams of blood — they blazed in the great carnage. Like gold, wondrous, like two marvelous wish-granting trees, and like two blossoming kimshuka trees, they shone on the battlefield. Vrishasena then, O king, having pierced Drupada with nine arrows, struck him with seventy, and again with three other arrows. Then, pouring forth thousands of arrows, Karna's son shone, O great king, like a cloud pouring down rain.
37c837a464f1 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Bloodied warriors appear "like wish-granting trees," "like blossoming kimshuka flowers": supreme beauty drawn out of extreme suffering. It is notable that the Mahabharata once again transmutes horror into splendor — not to hide cruelty but to reveal its double nature. The verse teaches that a warrior's earthly glory and his agony are inseparable, like blossom and thorn; what shines with beauty from afar is, up close, torn flesh — a lesson on the price of every gleaming feat of heroism.