Shloka 53
यासौ राजजन्निहिता वर्षपूगान् वधायाजौ सत्कृता फाल्गुनस्य । यां वै प्रादात् सूतपुत्राय शक्रः शर्क्ति श्रेष्ठां कुण्डलाभ्यां निमाय,राजन! जिसे उसने युद्धमें अर्जुनका वध करनेके लिये कितने ही वर्षोंसे सत्कारपूर्वक रख छोड़ा था, जिस श्रेष्ठ शक्तिको इन्द्रने सूतपुत्र कर्णके हाथमें उसके दोनों कुण्डलोंके बदलेमें दिया था, जो सबको चाट जानेके लिये उद्यत हुई यमराजके जिह्वाके समान जान पड़ती थी तथा जो मृत्युकी सगी बहिन एवं जलती हुई उल्काके समान प्रतीत होती थी, उसी पाशोंसे युक्त, प्रज्वलित दिव्य शक्तिको सूर्यपुत्र कर्णने राक्षस घटोत्कचपर चला दिया
sañjaya uvāca |
yāsau rājann ihitā varṣapūgān vadhāyājau satkṛtā phālgunasya |
yāṃ vai prādāt sūtaputrāya śakraḥ śaktiśreṣṭhāṃ kuṇḍalābhyāṃ nimāya ||
Sañjaya said: O King, that foremost divine missile—the Śakti—which had been kept ready for many years with reverent care to slay Phālguna (Arjuna) in battle, and which Śakra (Indra) had bestowed upon Karṇa, the charioteer’s son, in exchange for his two earrings, was now brought to bear. The passage reveals the war’s grave moral tension: a weapon gained through sacrifice and divine bargaining, long reserved for a decisive act, is turned upon a formidable foe, as vows, gifts, and strategic necessity override personal intent under the pressure of dharma.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight carried by extraordinary power: a divine weapon obtained through a costly exchange and preserved for a specific target embodies intention, obligation, and consequence. In the Mahābhārata’s moral universe, such gifts are not merely tools; they bind the recipient to choices where strategy, vows, and dharma collide.
Sañjaya reminds Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Karṇa possesses Indra’s foremost śakti, acquired by trading away his natural earrings. This weapon had been carefully kept for years to kill Arjuna (Phālguna) in battle, signaling an approaching decisive use of a rare, divinely sanctioned missile.