Shloka 128
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
तस्योत्सड्रे निपतितं शिरस्तच्चारुकुण्डलम् । वृद्धक्षत्रस्थ नृपतेरलक्षितमरिंदम,शत्रुदमन नरेश! जयद्रथका वह सुन्दर कुण्डलोंसे सुशोभित सिर राजा वृद्धक्षत्रकी गोदमें उनके बिना देखे ही गिर गया
tasyotsadre nipatitaṁ śirastac cārukuṇḍalam | vṛddhakṣatrastha nṛpater alakṣitam ariṁdama śatrudamana nareśa | jayadrathasya sundarakuṇḍalopetaṁ śiraḥ rājā vṛddhakṣatrasya godāyāṁ tenaivālakṣitam apatat ||
Sañjaya said: The head—adorned with beautiful earrings—fell upon the lap of King Vṛddhakṣatra, unnoticed by him. Thus the head of Jayadratha, the subduer of foes, dropped into his father’s lap without his awareness—an ominous turn in the war where pride and violence ripen into inevitable consequence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral logic of consequence in war: even a celebrated ‘subduer of enemies’ meets a destined end, and the fruits of violence return with painful immediacy to one’s own lineage—here symbolized by the severed head falling into the father’s lap.
Sañjaya reports that Jayadratha’s severed head, still adorned with earrings, falls into the lap of his father King Vṛddhakṣatra, and the king does not notice it at first. The detail heightens the dramatic and ominous atmosphere surrounding Jayadratha’s death.