Shloka 25

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

Devanagari script

नित्यं प्रसक्तवैरो यः पाण्डवै: पृथिवीपति: । विश्राव्य वैरं पार्थेन श्रुतायु: स निपातित:,जो पाण्डवोंके साथ सदा वैर बाँधे रखता था, उस राजा श्रुतायुको कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनने उसकी शत्रुताका स्मरण कराकर मार डाला

Transliteration

nityaṁ prasaktavairo yaḥ pāṇḍavaiḥ pṛthivīpatiḥ | viśrāvya vairaṁ pārthena śrutāyuḥ sa nipātitaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: König Śrutāyu, der seit langem eine feste Feindschaft gegen die Pāṇḍavas hegte, wurde von Pārtha (Arjuna) zu Fall gebracht, nachdem Arjuna seine Feindseligkeit ins Gedächtnis gerufen und offen zutage gestellt hatte—so traf er ihn im Kampf und ließ ihn die Folgen der von ihm selbst gewählten Fehde tragen.

Word by Word

नित्यम्always

प्रसक्त-वैरःone having persistent enmity

यःwho

पाण्डवैःwith/against the Pandavas

पृथिवी-पतिःking (lord of the earth)

विश्राव्यhaving made (it) known / having reminded

वैरम्enmity

पार्थेनby Partha (Arjuna)

श्रुतायुःShrutayu (proper name)

सःhe

निपातितःwas struck down / slain

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Śrutāyu

Pāṇḍavas

Pārtha (Arjuna)

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?

Persistent, willfully maintained enmity ripens into inevitable conflict and downfall; in the battlefield context, a warrior who clings to hostility meets its consequences when confronted by a stronger, duty-bound opponent.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Śrutāyu, a king who had long been hostile to the Pāṇḍavas, is slain by Arjuna (Pārtha). The verse frames the killing as the culmination of Śrutāyu’s sustained feud, which Arjuna explicitly brings to the fore in the encounter.