Shloka 56
तेजस्वी कर्णका वह ऊँचा शरीर बाणोंसे क्षत-विक्षत हो घावोंसे खूनकी धारा बहाता हुआ प्राणशून्य होकर गिर पड़ा, मानो वज़्के आघातसे भग्न हुआ किसी पर्वतका विशाल शिखर गेरुमिश्रित जलकी धारा बहा रहा हो। धरतीपर गिराये गये कर्णके शरीरसे एक तेज निकलकर आकाशमें फैल गया और ऊपर जाकर सूर्यमण्डलमें विलीन हो गया ।। तदद्धुतं सर्वमनुष्ययोधा: संदृष्टवन्तो निहते सम कर्णे । ततः शड्खान् पाण्डवा दश्मुरुच्चै- दृष्टवा कर्ण पातितं फाल्गुनेन,इस अद्भुत दृश्यको वहाँ खड़े हुए सब लोगोंने अपनी आँखों देखा था। कर्णके मारे जानेपर उसे अर्जुनद्वारा गिराया हुआ देख पाण्डवोंने उच्च स्वरसे शंख बजाया
sañjaya uvāca |
tejasvī karṇo mahākāyaḥ śarair bhinnaḥ kṣata-vikṣataḥ | vraṇebhyo rudhira-dhārāḥ sravan prāṇaśūnyaḥ papāta, yathā vajrāhata-bhagnaṃ mahāśikharaṃ parvatasya gairikamiśraṃ jaladhārām iva muñcat | pṛthivyāṃ nipātitasya karṇasya śarīrāt tejaḥ samutthāya nabhasi vyāptaṃ, ūrdhvaṃ gatvā sūryamaṇḍale līnam abhavat ||
tad adbhutaṃ sarva-manuṣya-yodhāḥ saṃdṛṣṭavantaḥ nihate same karṇe | tataḥ śaṅkhān pāṇḍavā dadhmuḥ uccaiḥ dṛṣṭvā karṇaṃ pātitaṃ phālgunena ||
Sañjaya said: The radiant Karṇa, his tall body torn and mangled by arrows, streams of blood pouring from his wounds, fell down lifeless—like a great mountain-peak shattered by a thunderbolt, sending forth a reddish, ochre-tinged torrent. From Karṇa’s body, cast upon the earth, a brilliance rose, spread across the sky, and, ascending, merged into the orb of the Sun. All the warriors there beheld this astonishing sight with their own eyes when Karṇa was slain. Then, seeing Karṇa felled by Phālguna (Arjuna), the Pāṇḍavas blew their conches loudly.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a warrior’s death not merely as defeat but as the culmination of destiny and moral consequence: Karṇa’s extraordinary tejas rises and returns to the Sun, underscoring impermanence of the body and the idea that one’s inner radiance (earned through lineage, deeds, and character) transcends the battlefield. It also shows how war mixes awe with sorrow—victory is marked by conches, yet the scene is described with cosmic solemnity.
Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, pierced and torn by arrows, collapses lifeless. A wondrous radiance emerges from his fallen body, spreads in the sky, and merges into the solar orb—symbolically returning to his divine father, Sūrya. Witnessing Karṇa felled by Arjuna (Phālguna), the Pāṇḍavas blow their conches loudly in triumph.