Shloka 16
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
तस्य द्वेषेण संयुक्त: परिदहों धनंजय । आत्मनो मरणे यातो वाध्रीणस इव द्विप:
tasya dveṣeṇa saṁyuktaḥ paridaho dhanaṁjaya | ātmano maraṇe yāto vādhṛīṇasa iva dvipaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „O Dhanañjaya, vom Hass auf ihn ergriffen, brannte ich unablässig in meinem Innern. Wie das Wesen namens vādhṛīṇasa, das von selbst zur Schlachtstätte geht, um zu sterben, so ging auch ich Karṇa entgegen, als ginge ich meinem eigenen Ende zu.“
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse warns that hatred (dveṣa) can become an inner conflagration (paridāha) that drives one toward reckless, self-harming choices. Even in a dharma-framed war, unchecked aversion clouds judgment and can make a person act as though seeking their own destruction.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Arjuna (Dhanañjaya), confessing that his animosity toward Karṇa had so inflamed him that he went to confront Karṇa in a near-suicidal state of mind, likened to the vādhṛīṇasa creature heading to the slaughter-place.