Shloka 20

Devanagari script

कर्ण च वृषसेनं च मद्रराजं॑ च कौरव । दुर्धर्ष दीर्घबाहुं च ये च तेषां पदानुगा:

Transliteration

karṇaṁ ca vṛṣasenaṁ ca madrarājaṁ ca kaurava | durdharṣaṁ dīrghabāhuṁ ca ye ca teṣāṁ padānugāḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sagte: „O Kaurava: Karṇa und Vṛṣasena, auch der König von Madra; Durdharṣa, schwer zu bezwingen, langarmig; und alle, die in ihren Reihen hinter ihnen herzogen.“

Word by Word

कर्णम्Karna

चand

वृषसेनम्Vrishasena

चand

मद्रराजम्the king of Madra

चand

कौरवO Kaurava (descendant of Kuru)

दुर्धर्षम्hard to assail / unconquerable

दीर्घबाहुम्long-armed

चand

येwho / those who

चand

तेषाम्of them / their

पदानुगाःfollowers (those who go after their footsteps)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Kaurava (Dhṛtarāṣṭra)

Karṇa

Vṛṣasena

Madrarāja (Śalya)

Durdharṣa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how prominent leaders are never alone in war: their decisions and loyalties pull entire groups of followers into danger and moral consequence. It implicitly stresses responsibility—commanders and celebrated heroes shape the fate of many who ‘walk in their footsteps’.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya is reporting to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, naming key Kaurava-side warriors—Karṇa, his son Vṛṣasena, Śalya the king of Madra, and Durdharṣa—together with their accompanying followers, as part of a battlefield account in the Droṇa Parvan.