Shloka 71

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

वासुदेवस्य दुर्बुद्धि: प्रत्याख्यानमरोचत । स नूनं वृषभस्कन्ध॑ कर्ण दृष्टवा निपातितम्‌

Transliteration

vāsudevasya durbuddhiḥ pratyākhyānam arocata | sa nūnaṃ vṛṣabhaskandha karṇa dṛṣṭvā nipātitam ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „Der törichte Gedanke, Vasudevas (Kṛṣṇas) Rat zurückzuweisen, gefiel ihm. Gewiss, o Stierenschultriger, erst nachdem er Karna niedergestreckt sah, nahm er die Wahrheit an — doch zu spät für jedes Heilmittel.“

Word by Word

वासुदेवस्यof Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

दुर्बुद्धिःevil counsel / foolish idea

प्रत्याख्यानम्refusal / rejection

अरोचतwas pleasing / seemed good

सःhe

नूनम्surely / indeed

वृषभस्कन्धO bull-shouldered one

कर्णम्Karna

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

निपातितम्felled / struck down

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)

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?

Rejecting wise counsel out of misguided judgment (durbuddhi) leads to irreversible consequences; recognition often comes only after loss, when correction is no longer possible.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator remarks that someone found it pleasing to refuse Vāsudeva’s advice, and only after witnessing Karṇa’s downfall did the reality of that error become evident.