Shloka 98

Devanagari script

कर्णके ध्वजपर जो हाथीकी साँकल थी, वह कालपाशके समान जान पड़ती थी। वह लोहनिर्मित हाथीकी साँकल छोटी-छोटी घण्टियोंसे विभूषित थी। उसने अत्यन्त कुपित होकर उस वानरपर धावा किया ।। तयोघोरितरे युद्धे द्वेरथे द्यृूत आहिते । प्रकुर्वाते ध्वजौ युद्ध पूर्व पूर्वतरं तदा,उन दोनोंमें घोरतर द्वैरथ युद्धरूपी जूएका अवसर उपस्थित था, इसीलिये उन दोनोंकी ध्वजाओंने पहले स्वयं ही युद्ध आरम्भ कर दिया

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

karṇake dhvajapara yā hastikī sāṅkal thī sā kālapāśa-samān jān paṛtī thī | sā loha-nirmita hastikī sāṅkal choṭī-choṭī ghaṇṭiyoṃ-se vibhūṣit thī | usne atyanta kupit hokar us vānara-par dhāvā kiyā ||

tayor ghoritare yuddhe dvairathe dyūta āhite | prakurvāte dhvajau yuddhaṃ pūrvaṃ pūrva-taraṃ tadā ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: An Karṇas Banner hing eine eiserne Kette wie eine Elefantenkette, dem Strick des Todes gleich, mit vielen kleinen Glöckchen geschmückt. In heftigem Zorn stürzte sie auf den Affen los. Und in jenem noch schrecklicheren Wagen-gegen-Wagen-Duell—wie ein Würfelspiel, das nun in Gang gesetzt war—begannen ihre Standarten selbst zuerst den Kampf, als wollten sie der kommenden Schlacht vorgreifen.

Word by Word

तयोःof those two

घोरितरेin the more terrible

युद्धेbattle

द्वेरथेin the chariot-duel (between two chariots)

द्यृतेin the game of dice / stake-contest

आहितेhaving been set/placed; when set

प्रकुर्वातेthey two perform / they two set in motion

ध्वजौthe two banners/standards

युद्धम्battle

पूर्वम्first; beforehand

पूर्वतरम्even earlier; earlier still

तदाthen

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Karna

Hanuman (as the monkey on Arjuna’s banner, implied by vānara)

Karna’s banner (dhvaja)

Iron elephant-chain with bells (sāṅkalā with ghaṇṭikāḥ)

Noose of Death/Time (kālapāśa)

Chariot-duel (dvairatha yuddha)

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 passage uses vivid symbolism to frame battle as a fateful, death-shadowed contest: the ‘noose of Death’ imagery and the dice-game metaphor suggest that once violent rivalry is set in motion, it quickly escalates beyond ordinary control, demanding vigilance about the ethical weight and consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes an ominous prelude to the Karna–Arjuna chariot duel: Karna’s banner-ornament (an iron elephant-chain with bells) seems to lunge at the monkey (Hanuman) on Arjuna’s standard, and the two standards are portrayed as beginning the fight even before the warriors fully engage.