Shloka 130
अध्याय १४८ — कर्णप्रभावः, धृष्टद्युम्नस्य विरथता, तथा घटोत्कच-आह्वानम्
Chapter 148: Karṇa’s Pressure, Dhṛṣṭadyumna Unhorsed, and the Summoning of Ghaṭotkaca
ततस्तस्य नरेन्द्रस्य पुत्रमूर्धनि भूतले । गते तस्यापि शतधा मूर्धागच्छदरिंदम,शत्रुदमन महाराज! पुत्रका मस्तक पृथ्वीपर गिरते ही राजा वृद्धक्षत्रके मस्तकके भी सौ टुकड़े हो गये
tatas tasya narendrasya putramūrdhani bhūtale | gate tasyāpi śatadhā mūrdhāgacchad arindamaśatrudamana mahārāja ||
Sañjaya said: Then, when the head of that king’s son fell upon the ground, O crusher of foes, O subduer of enemies, O great king, the head of that king (Vṛddhakṣatra) too burst into a hundred pieces. Thus, in the midst of war, the inescapable working of a vowed condition and the moral weight of one’s prior acts are shown to ripen instantly and decisively.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the immediacy with which karmic consequences and binding conditions (such as vows or curse-like stipulations) can manifest. In the ethical frame of the Mahābhārata, violent acts in war are not merely physical events; they are also the ripening of prior intentions, choices, and moral burdens.
Sañjaya reports that when the severed head of the king’s son falls to the ground, the king Vṛddhakṣatra’s own head simultaneously breaks into a hundred fragments. The narration underscores a dramatic, causally linked outcome tied to the son’s death and the conditions surrounding it.