Shloka 243

Devanagari script

कर्णराक्षसयो राजन्निन्द्रशम्बरयोरिव । प्रजानाथ! राजन! पूर्वकालमें जैसे इन्द्र और शम्बरासुरमें युद्ध हुआ था, उसी प्रकार कर्ण और राक्षसका वह संग्राम बड़ा भयंकर हुआ

Transliteration

karṇa-rākṣasayo rājan indra-śambarayor iva | prajānātha rājann pūrva-kāle yathā indraḥ śambarāsureṇa yuddham akarot tathā karṇasya rākṣasasya ca saṅgrāmo mahān bhayaṅkara āsīt |

Translation

Sañjaya said: O King, the battle between Karṇa and the rākṣasa became exceedingly dreadful—like the ancient combat between Indra and the asura Śambara.

Word by Word

कर्णof Karna

राक्षसयोःof the two rakshasas / of the rakshasa (pair)

राजन्O king

इन्द्रof Indra

शम्बरयोःof (the two) Shambaras / of Shambara (pair)

इवlike, as

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Karna

Rākṣasa (unnamed)

King Dhṛtarāṣṭra (implied by address 'rājan', 'prajānātha')

Indra

Śambara (asura)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a mythic comparison (Indra vs Śambara) to highlight how war magnifies human conflict into something terrifying and world-shaking; it implicitly cautions the king to recognize the moral gravity and destructive momentum of battle, beyond mere victory or defeat.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that Karṇa’s fight with a rākṣasa has become extremely fierce, and he intensifies the scene by likening it to the legendary ancient battle between Indra and the asura Śambara.