Shloka 12
शक्ति घटोत्कचेनेमां व्यंसयित्वा महाद्युते । कर्ण निहतमेवाजौ विद्धि सद्यो धनंजय,महातेजस्वी धनंजय! इन्द्रकी दी हुई शक्तिको घटोत्कचके द्वारा कर्णके हाथसे दूर कराकर अब तुम युद्धमें कर्णको शीघ्र मरा हुआ ही समझो
śaktiṁ ghaṭotkacenemāṁ vyaṁsayitvā mahādyute | karṇa nihatam evājau viddhi sadyo dhanaṁjaya || mahātejasvī dhanaṁjaya! indrākī dī huī śakti ko ghaṭotkaca ke dvārā karṇa ke hātha se dūra karākara aba tuma yuddha meṁ karṇa ko śīghra marā huā hī samajho |
Vāyu said: “O greatly radiant one, once this divine spear has been made to miss through Ghaṭotkaca, know that Karṇa is as good as slain on the battlefield, O Dhanañjaya. Mighty Dhanañjaya—after the spear given by Indra has been drawn away from Karṇa’s hand through Ghaṭotkaca, you should regard Karṇa in this war as destined to fall without delay.”
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral-strategic assurance: when a warrior’s decisive advantage (a unique divine weapon) is neutralized, the balance of dharma-driven outcomes shifts. It highlights how divine forces and prior boons shape battlefield ethics—victory is not only personal prowess but also the exhaustion or diversion of adharma-tilted power.
Vāyu addresses Arjuna, declaring that once Indra’s spear (held by Karṇa) has been made to miss through Ghaṭotkaca’s intervention, Arjuna should consider Karṇa effectively doomed in the war. The statement anticipates Karṇa’s eventual fall after his singular, fearsome weapon is expended or rendered ineffective.