तौ शराग्रविभिन्नाङ्गौ निर्भिन्दन्तौ परस्परम् ॥
नाकम्पयेताम् अन्योन्यं यतमानौ महाद्युती ॥
तत् प्रवृत्तं निशायुद्धं चिरं समम् इवाभवत् ॥
प्राणयोर् दीव्यतो राजन् कर्णराक्षसयोर् मृधे ॥
तस्य संदधतस् तीक्ष्णाञ् शरांश् चासक्तम् अस्यतः ॥
धनुर्घोषेण वित्रस्ताः स्वे परे च तदाभवन् ॥
घटोत्कचं यदा कर्णो विशेषयति नो नृप ॥
ततः प्रादुष्करोद् दिव्यम् अस्त्रम् अस्त्रविदां वरः ॥
कर्णेन विहितं दृष्ट्वा दिव्यम् अस्त्रं घटोत्कचः ॥
प्रादुश्चक्रे महामायां राक्षसः पाण्डुनन्दनः ॥
tau śarāgravibhinnāṅgau nirbhindantau parasparam ||
nākampayetām anyonyaṃ yatamānau mahādyutī ||
tat pravṛttaṃ niśāyuddhaṃ ciraṃ samam ivābhavat ||
prāṇayor dīvyato rājan karṇarākṣasayor mṛdhe ||
tasya saṃdadhatas tīkṣṇāñ śarāṃś cāsaktam asyataḥ ||
dhanurghoṣeṇa vitrastāḥ sve pare ca tadābhavan ||
ghaṭotkacaṃ yadā karṇo viśeṣayati no nṛpa ||
tataḥ prāduṣkarod divyam astram astravidāṃ varaḥ ||
karṇena vihitaṃ dṛṣṭvā divyam astraṃ ghaṭotkacaḥ ||
prāduścakre mahāmāyāṃ rākṣasaḥ pāṇḍunandanaḥ ||
Both, their bodies pierced by arrow-points, piercing one another, could not shake one another, striving on, radiant. That ensuing night-battle long remained as if evenly matched -- between those staking their lives, O king, Karna and the rakshasa in combat. From him, who kept fitting sharp arrows and shooting without pause, both friend and foe alike were terrified by the twang of his bow. When Karna began to surpass Ghatotkacha, O king, then he, the best of weapon-masters, revealed a divine weapon.
9054921b0979 · प्रकाशित 19 जुल॰ 2026, 4:49:34 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
The battle is called a game in which the stake is life: 'staking their lives.' This comparison of battle to a game of dice is telling -- where Duryodhana won a kingdom at dice, here life itself is staked on the outcome of arrows. The verse teaches that war is the highest and most terrible of games: its stake is not wealth but life itself; and the recklessness with which strife is begun turns into a game where the loser pays not in gold but in blood.