Shloka 413

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

कथमिन्द्रोपमं वीर मृत्युर्युद्धे समस्पृशत्‌ । मैं पूछता हूँ कि युद्धमें बहुत-से दिव्यास्त्रोंकी वर्षा करते हुए इन्द्रके समान पराक्रमी वीर कर्णको मृत्यु कैसे छू सकी?

Transliteration

katham indropamaṃ vīra mṛtyur yuddhe samaspṛśat |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Wie konnte der Tod auf dem Schlachtfeld jenen Helden—Karna—berühren, dessen Kraft Indra glich, während er eine Vielzahl göttlicher Geschosse wie Regen niedergehen ließ?“ Die Frage macht den sittlichen Schock des Krieges sichtbar: Selbst die Mächtigsten, mit himmlischer Macht bewaffnet, bleiben dem Schicksal, der Zeit und den Folgen unterworfen, die Dharma und vergangene Taten weben.

Word by Word

कथम्how?

इन्द्रोपमम्Indra-like, comparable to Indra

वीरम्the hero

मृत्युःdeath

युद्धेin battle

समस्पृशत्touched, came upon

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Indra

Mṛtyu (Death, personified)

Karna

divyāstra (divine weapons)

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?

Even extraordinary strength and divine weaponry cannot override mortality and the larger order of time (kāla) and karma; the epic invites reflection on how dharma, destiny, and prior causes shape outcomes in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana frames a pointed question about Karna’s fall: despite fighting like Indra and unleashing divine missiles, how could Death overtake him in the battle—setting up the explanation of the circumstances leading to Karna’s end.