Shloka 173
नृपश्रेष्ठ! संग्रामभूमिमें गर्जना करते हुए कर्ण और राक्षस दोनोंमें इन्द्र और प्रह्नलादके समान युद्ध होने लगा ।। इति श्रीमहाभारते द्रोणपर्वणि घटोत्कचवधपर्वणि रात्रियुद्धे घटोत्कचप्रोत्साहने त्रिसप्तत्यधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
nṛpaśreṣṭha! saṅgrāmabhūmau garjanāṃ kurvatā karṇa-rākṣasayor ubhayor indra-prahlādayor iva yuddhaṃ pravavṛte.
Sañjaya said: O best of kings, upon the battlefield, as Karṇa and the rākṣasa roared aloud, a battle arose between them like that of Indra and Prahlāda. — Thus ends the one hundred and seventy-third chapter of the Mahābhārata, in the Droṇa Parva, in the section on the slaying of Ghaṭotkaca, in the night-battle, in the passage that rouses Ghaṭotkaca.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how war magnifies pride, fear, and resolve: roaring and rivalry escalate into legendary-scale conflict. Ethically, it underscores the tragic momentum of adharma-driven war, where even great heroes are swept into ever-intensifying violence.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa and the rākṣasa Ghaṭotkaca, both roaring on the battlefield during the night-fight, engage in a tremendous duel likened to the famed clash of Indra and Prahlāda.