Shloka 273
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
सैन्धवं निहतं दृष्टवा राधेय: समुपाद्रवत् । सव्यसाची अर्जुन कृपाचार्यके लिये विलाप कर ही रहे थे कि सिंधुराजको मारा गया देख राधानन्दन कर्णने उनपर धावा कर दिया
saindhavaṁ nihataṁ dṛṣṭvā rādheyaḥ samupādravat |
Sañjaya said: Seeing the king of Sindhu (Jayadratha) slain, Rādheya (Karna), driven by wrath and the warrior’s code of retaliation, rushed forward to attack. The moment marks a sharp turn in the battle’s moral tension: grief and lamentation are instantly converted into renewed violence, as vengeance and loyalty to one’s side override restraint.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how quickly sorrow and shock in war can harden into retaliatory action. It implicitly questions the ethical cost of a battlefield culture where loyalty and vengeance compel immediate violence, even when grief is still fresh.
After Jayadratha (the Sindhu king) is killed, Karna sees the fall and immediately charges forward to attack, escalating the conflict at a critical moment in the Drona Parva battle sequence.