Shloka 593
धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)
स राजकानां सर्वेषां पश्यतां व: किरीटिना । इसी तरह प्रतापी सूतपुत्र कर्ण भी राजाओंसहित तुम सब लोगोंके देखते-देखते किरीटधारी अर्जुनके हाथसे मारा गया
sa rājñāṁ sarveṣāṁ paśyatāṁ vaḥ kirīṭinā | tathā pratāpī sūtaputraḥ karṇo 'pi rājabhiḥ saha yuṣmākaṁ sarveṣāṁ paśyatāṁ-paśyatāṁ kirīṭadhāriṇā arjunena hataḥ |
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Vor den Augen aller Könige – und vor euren Augen allen – wurde auch der mächtige Karṇa, der tapfere Sohn eines Wagenlenkers, von Arjuna, dem Diademträger, erschlagen. Die Erzählung betont den öffentlichen, bezeugten Charakter der Tat: Im Krieg fallen selbst die Größten vor dem Schicksal und vor den Folgen der Bündnisse und Taten, die sie gewählt haben.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of consequence in dharmic warfare: even renowned heroes fall, and their end becomes a public moral record. It also stresses the importance of witnessed truth (what is seen by many) in preserving the ethical memory of events.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Karṇa, famed for valor and known as the sūta’s son, is slain by Arjuna, the diadem-bearing warrior, in the sight of assembled kings and the wider audience—emphasizing the decisive and publicly observed turning point in the battle.