Shloka 236

घटोत्कच-कर्णयुद्धम्

Ghaṭotkaca–Karna Combat and the Release of Śakti

Devanagari script

सैन्धवो निहतो युद्धे दैवमत्र पर॑ स्मृतम्‌ । सुयोधन! दैवके विधानमें कहीं कोई उलट-फेर नहीं हो सकता, यह मेरी मान्यता है; क्योंकि हमलोग सम्पूर्ण शक्ति लगाकर युद्ध कर रहे थे, तो भी रणभूमिमें सिंधुराज मारे गये। इस विषयमें दैव (प्रारब्ध)-को ही प्रधान माना गया है

Transliteration

saindhavo nihato yuddhe daivam atra paraṃ smṛtam | suyodhana! daivake vidhānameṃ kahīṃ koī ulaṭa-phera nahīṃ ho sakatā, yaha merī mānyatā hai; kyoṃki hamaloga sampūrṇa śakti lagākara yuddha kara rahe the, to bhī raṇabhūmi meṃ sindhurāja māre gaye | isa viṣaya meṃ daiva (prārabdha)-ko hī pradhāna mānā gayā hai |

Translation

Karna said: “The king of Sindhu has been slain in battle; in this matter, destiny is remembered as the supreme factor. O Suyodhana, it is my conviction that there can be no overturning what fate has ordained. For even though we fought with our full strength, the lord of Sindhu was killed on the battlefield. Therefore, in this event, destiny—one’s ripened past karma—is to be regarded as paramount.”

Word by Word

• {'saindhavaḥ': 'the Sindhu king

• Jayadratha', 'nihataḥ': 'slain, killed', 'yuddhe': 'in battle', 'daivam': 'fate, destiny

• the force of providence (often linked with prārabdha-karma)', 'atra': 'here, in this matter', 'param': 'supreme, highest', 'smṛtam': 'is remembered/considered (as authoritative)', 'suyodhana': "Duryodhana (epithet meaning 'good fighter')", 'vidhānam': 'ordinance, arrangement, decree', 'ulaṭa-phera (Hindi gloss)': 'reversal, alteration (sense: cannot be changed)', 'raṇabhūmi': 'battlefield', 'sindhurāja': 'king of Sindhu

• Jayadratha', 'prārabdha': 'that portion of past karma already set in motion and bearing fruit', 'pradhāna': 'primary, principal'}

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Karna
• Suyodhana (Duryodhana)
• Saindhava / Sindhurāja (Jayadratha)
• battlefield (raṇabhūmi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Karna emphasizes the primacy of daiva (destiny/prārabdha-karma) in certain outcomes: even maximal human effort may not prevent what has been ordained, so one should recognize the limits of agency and accept the result without imagining it could have been easily reversed.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Jayadratha (the Sindhu king) has been killed in the battle, Karna addresses Duryodhana, interpreting the loss as evidence of destiny’s dominance—despite the Kauravas’ strenuous efforts to protect him.