Shloka 2

कर्णनिधनश्रवणम् — Hearing of Karṇa’s Fall and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament

Devanagari script

दुष्प्रणीतेन मे तात पुत्रस्यादीर्घजीविन: । हतं वैकर्तनं श्रुव्वा शोको मर्माणि कृन्तति,“तात अपने अल्पायु पुत्रके अन्यायसे वैकर्तन कर्णके मारे जानेका समाचार सुनकर जो शोक उमड़ आया है, वह मेरे मर्मस्थानोंको छेदे डालता है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: duṣpraṇītena me tāta putrasyādīrghajīvinaḥ | hataṃ vaikartanaṃ śrutvā śoko marmāṇi kṛntati ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Lieber, durch das fehlgeleitete Tun meines Sohnes—dessen Leben nicht auf lange Dauer bestimmt war—als ich vernahm, dass Vaikartana (Karna) erschlagen worden sei, stieg eine Woge des Kummers in mir auf und sie schneidet mir bis ins Lebendige.“

Word by Word

दुष्प्रणीतेनby wrongful guidance/ill-conduct

मेof me / my

तातO father/dear sir

पुत्रस्यof (my) son

अदीर्घजीविनःshort-lived

हतम्slain

वैकर्तनम्Vaikartana (Karna)

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

शोकःgrief

मर्माणिvital parts / sensitive points

कृन्ततिcuts/tears

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vaikartana (Karṇa)

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 highlights how wrongful or ill-guided action (duṣpraṇīta) leads to painful consequences, and how the news of a great warrior’s fall becomes an ethical and emotional reckoning—grief that ‘cuts the vital parts’ underscores the inner cost of misjudgment and conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker reports the crushing sorrow felt upon hearing that Vaikartana (Karna) has been killed. The grief is framed as arising in connection with a son’s misguided course and the sense that events have unfolded under the shadow of an ill-fated lifespan.