स भवान् मज्जमानानां बन्धूनां त्वं प्लवो यथा ॥
विविधानि तवास्त्राणि सन्ति माया च राक्षसी ॥
पश्य कर्णेन हैडिम्ब पाण्डवानाम् अनीकिनी ॥
काल्यमाना यथा गावः पालेन रणमूर्धनि ॥
एष कर्णो महेष्वासो मतिमान् दृढविक्रमः ॥
पाण्डवानाम् अनीकेषु निहन्ति क्षत्रियर्षभान् ॥
किरन्तः शरवर्षाणि महान्ति दृढधन्विनः ॥
न शक्नुवन्त्य् अवस्थातुं पीड्यमानाः शरार्चिषा ॥
sa bhavān majjamānānāṃ bandhūnāṃ tvaṃ plavo yathā ||
vividhāni tavāstrāṇi santi māyā ca rākṣasī ||
paśya karṇena haiḍimba pāṇḍavānām anīkinī ||
kālyamānā yathā gāvaḥ pālena raṇamūrdhani ||
eṣa karṇo maheṣvāso matimān dṛḍhavikramaḥ ||
pāṇḍavānām anīkeṣu nihanti kṣatriyarṣabhān ||
kirantaḥ śaravarṣāṇi mahānti dṛḍhadhanvinaḥ ||
na śaknuvanty avasthātuṃ pīḍyamānāḥ śarārciṣā ||
"The hour of valor has come, yours, and no one else's. You, for your drowning kinsmen, are like a raft. Manifold is your weaponry, and there is also the sorcery of a rakshasa. Behold, o son of Hidimba, how the army of the Pandavas is driven by Karna, like cows by a herdsman in the forefront of battle. Here is Karna, the great archer, wise, firm in valor, slaying the bulls among kshatriyas in the ranks of the Pandavas. The great, firm-bowed archers scattering showers of arrows cannot withstand him..."
88c2919b012e · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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Krishna calls Ghatotkacha "a raft for drowning kinsmen": the rakshasa, child of the union of Bhima and Hidimba, becomes the salvation of the Pandu line. It is telling that a son born outside the ordinary order is called to save the whole family. The verse teaches that a person's worth is set not by origin but by service and love; the one others would count a stranger proves the support in the hour when all are drowning — for kinship of heart stands above kinship of blood.