Shloka 5

Karṇa-vadha-pratyaya: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Verification of Karṇa’s Fall (कर्णवध-प्रत्ययः)

Devanagari script

पारावतसवर्णाश्विश्रन्द्रादित्यसमद्युति: । पार्षत: प्रबभौ धन्‍्वी कालो विग्रहवानिव

Transliteration

pārāvata-savarṇāśviś candrāditya-sama-dyutiḥ | pārṣataḥ prababhau dhanvī kālo vigrahavān iva ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: Mit Pferden von taubengleicher Farbe und einem Glanz wie Mond und Sonne strahlte der Sohn Pṛṣatas (Dhṛṣṭadyumna), den Bogen in der Hand—als wäre die Zeit selbst leibhaftig geworden und im Kampf erschienen.

Word by Word

pārāvata-savarṇa-aśvi-śyandra-āditya-sama-dyutiḥhaving a radiance equal to (that of) pigeons, the Aśvins, the moon, and the sun (i.e., very radiant)

pārṣataḥthe son of Pṛṣat (Dhṛṣṭadyumna)

prababhaushone forth; blazed

dhanvīthe bowman; archer

kālaḥTime; Death

vigraha-vānembodied; having a form

ivaas if; like

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Dhṛṣṭadyumna (Pārṣata)

Moon (Candra)

Sun (Āditya)

Time/Death (Kāla)

bow

horses

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a warrior’s emergence in cosmic terms: in war, human action is overshadowed by Kāla (Time/Death), reminding readers that power and brilliance are transient and that outcomes unfold within a larger, inexorable order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya describes Dhṛṣṭadyumna entering the scene in striking splendor—his chariot team likened to doves and his presence compared to the combined radiance of Moon and Sun—so formidable that he seems like embodied Time moving through the battlefield.