Shloka 136
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
स हि पारो महानासीत् पुत्राणां मम संजय । युद्धमें सूतपुत्र कर्णके मारे जानेपर मैं अपने पक्षके किसी भी वीरको ऐसा नहीं देखता, जो जीवित रह सके। संजय! कर्ण ही मेरे पुत्रोंकी पार उतारनेवाला महान् अवलम्ब था
sa hi pāro mahān āsīt putrāṇāṁ mama sañjaya | yuddhe me sūtaputraḥ karṇe māre jāne ’paraṁ mama pakṣasya kañcid vīraṁ na paśyāmi yo jīvituṁ śaknoti | sañjaya! karṇa eva mama putrāṇāṁ pāram uttārayitā mahān avalamba āsīt |
قال دِهْرِتَرَاشْتْرَا: «يا سَنْجَيَا، لقد كان حقًّا الشاطئ العظيم الذي يُعَبِّرُ إليه أبنائي. والآن، بعد أن قُتِلَ كَرْنَا ابنُ السُّوتا (سائق العربة) في ساحة القتال، لا أرى في صفي بطلًا واحدًا يمكنه أن ينجو. يا سَنْجَيَا، كان كَرْنَا وحده السندَ الجبار الذي به كان يمكن لأبنائي أن يُنقَلوا عبر هذا الخطر.»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of power built on a single pillar: when a faction relies on one extraordinary warrior as its ‘support’ and ‘ferry across danger,’ the fall of that person exposes the moral and strategic emptiness beneath. It also reflects how attachment and partiality cloud judgment—Dhṛtarāṣṭra measures survival and hope chiefly through martial strength rather than through dharma.
After Karṇa is killed in the Kurukṣetra war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments to Sañjaya that Karṇa had been the chief mainstay for saving his sons. With Karṇa gone, he foresees no remaining warrior on the Kaurava side capable of enduring the conflict.