तद् उद्धतं शैल इवाप्रकम्प्यो; वर्षं महच् छैलसमानसारः ॥
विध्वंसयाम् आस रणे नरेन्द्र; वैकर्तनः शत्रुगणावमर्दी ॥
ततो ऽतुलैर् वज्रनिपातकल्पैः; शितैः शरैः काञ्चनचित्रपुङ्खैः ॥
शत्रून् व्यपोहत् समरे महात्मा; वैकर्तनः पुत्रहिते रतस् ते ॥
संछिन्नभिन्नध्वजिनश् च के चित्; के चिच् छरैर् अर्दितभिन्नदेहाः ॥
के चिद् विसूता विहयाश् च के चिद्; वैकर्तनेनाशु कृता बभूवुः ॥
अविन्दमानास् त्व् अथ शर्म संख्ये; यौधिष्ठिरं ते बलम् अन्वपद्यन् ॥
तान् प्रेक्ष्य भग्नान् विमुखीकृतांश् च; घटोत्कचो रोषम् अतीव चक्रे ॥
tad uddhataṃ śaila ivāprakampyo; varṣaṃ mahac chailasamānasāraḥ ||
vidhvaṃsayām āsa raṇe narendra; vaikartanaḥ śatrugaṇāvamardī ||
tato 'tulair vajranipātakalpaiḥ; śitaiḥ śaraiḥ kāñcanacitrapuṅkhaiḥ ||
śatrūn vyapohat samare mahātmā; vaikartanaḥ putrahite ratas te ||
saṃchinnabhinnadhvajinaś ca ke cit; ke cic charair arditabhinnadehāḥ ||
ke cid visūtā vihayāś ca ke cid; vaikartanenāśu kṛtā babhūvuḥ ||
avindamānās tv atha śarma saṃkhye; yaudhiṣṭhiraṃ te balam anvapadyan ||
tān prekṣya bhagnān vimukhīkṛtāṃś ca; ghaṭotkaco roṣam atīva cakre ||
That upheaved [army], unshakable as a mountain, that great downpour [of arrows], firm as a mountain, Vaikartana [Karna], the crusher of the hosts of enemies, dispersed in battle, O lord of men. Then with incomparable arrows, like the fall of thunderbolts, sharp arrows with gold-patterned fletching, the great-souled Vaikartana, devoted to the welfare of your son, drove off the enemies in battle. Some with banners cut asunder, some with wounded bodies, some without charioteers, some without horses — such Vaikartana swiftly made them. Finding no refuge in that battle, they resorted to the army of Yudhishthira; seeing them broken, turned back, Ghatotkacha blazed with great anger.
03b3b7f46dad · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:10 PM UTC
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Karna, 'unshakable as a mountain,' disperses the downpour of enemies and crushes their hosts — and all this while 'devoted to the welfare of your son.' It is telling that his greatest valor is given to the unjust cause of Duryodhana. The verse teaches that might and loyalty by themselves are blind to the rightness of the one they serve; and the tragedy of Karna is that his invincibility, worthy of a better fate, is spent in defense of a doomed wrong.