Shloka 38
भीष्म-पर्व अध्याय १०० — त्रिगर्त-आक्रमण, भीष्म-केन्द्रित पुनर्संयोजन, तथा शक्त्यस्त्र-विनिमय
तस्मादर्हसि गाज़्ेय कृपां कर्तु मयि प्रभो । जहि पाण्डुसुतान् वीरान् महेन्द्र इव दानवान्
tasmād arhasi gāṅgeya kṛpāṁ kartu mayi prabho | jahi pāṇḍusutān vīrān mahendra iva dānavān ||
অতএব, হে গাঙ্গেয়, হে প্রভু! আমার প্রতি অনুগ্রহ করুন। যেমন মহেন্দ্র দানবদের সংহার করেন, তেমনি আপনি বীর পাণ্ডুপুত্রদের বধ করুন।
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how, in wartime rhetoric, duty and divine analogy are used to justify extreme action: Karṇa urges Bhīṣma to treat the killing of the Pāṇḍavas as a commander’s righteous obligation, likening it to Indra’s cosmic battle against the Dānavas. It also shows the ethical tension between personal bonds and the demands of allegiance and victory.
Karṇa, emotionally moved (tears and folded hands), addresses Bhīṣma as Gāṅgeya and asks him to show favor by taking decisive action on the battlefield—specifically, to kill the sons of Pāṇḍu—invoking Indra’s destruction of the Dānavas as a model for Bhīṣma’s role in the Kaurava cause.