Shloka 34
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४० (कृष्णेन कर्णं प्रति पाण्डवबल-वैशिष्ट्यप्रदर्शनम्) / Udyoga Parva, Chapter 140
Krishna’s appraisal of Pandava advantage and war portents
अभिमन्यु ही उदगाता और महाबली नरश्रेष्ठ भीमसेन ही प्रस्तोता होंगे, जो रणभूमिमें गर्जना करते हुए शत्रुपक्षके हाथियोंकी सेनाका विनाश कर डालेंगे ।।
abhimanyuḥ hy udgātā ca mahābalī naraśreṣṭho bhīmasenaḥ prastotā bhaviṣyati, yo raṇabhūmau garjann eva śatrupakṣasya hastisenāṃ vināśayiṣyati. sa caiva tatra dharmātmā śaśvad rājā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ, japa-homa-śnānasaṃyukto brahmatvaṃ kārayiṣyati.
Karna erklärt, Abhimanyu werde als udgātṛ dienen und der mächtige Bhīmasena—der Beste unter den Menschen—als prastotṛ; brüllend auf dem Schlachtfeld werde er das Elefantenkorps des Feindes zerschmettern. Und dort wird der stets rechtschaffene König Yudhiṣṭhira, unablässig der Mantra-Rezitation und den Feueropfern (homa) hingegeben, die Aufgabe des Brahmā-Priesters in diesem feierlichen Ritus vollziehen—und den kommenden Krieg als ein düsteres Opfer unter der Herrschaft von Dharma und Disziplin rahmen.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse casts the impending war in the idiom of a yajña: disciplined roles, ritual purity, and dharma are emphasized even amid violence. It suggests that righteous leadership (Yudhiṣṭhira’s dharmātmā nature) must anchor action, while power (Bhīma’s martial force) is directed within an ethical and orderly framework.
Karna is describing (in prophetic or rhetorical terms) the Pāṇḍavas’ arrangement as if for a sacrifice: Abhimanyu and Bhīma are assigned priestly titles (udgātṛ, prastotṛ), while Bhīma simultaneously is portrayed as destroying the enemy’s elephant forces on the battlefield. Yudhiṣṭhira is said to perform the Brahmā-priest’s supervisory role through constant japa and homa.