Shloka 5

Devanagari script

प्रभातमात्रे श्वोभूते केशवायार्जुनाय वा । शक्तिरेषा हि मोक्तव्या कर्ण कर्णेति नित्यश:,संजयने कहा--प्रजानाथ! कुरुकुलश्रेष्ठ! प्रतिदिन संग्रामसे लौटनेपर रात्रिमें हमलोगोंकी यही सलाह हुआ करती थी कि “कर्ण! तुम कल सबेरा होते ही श्रीकृष्ण अथवा अर्जुनपर यह शक्ति चला देना'

Transliteration

prabhātamātre śvobhūte keśavāyārjunāya vā | śaktir eṣā hi moktavyā karṇa karṇeti nityaśaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: “O lord of men, O best of the Kuru line! Each day, when we returned from battle, our constant counsel through the night was this: ‘Karna, at daybreak tomorrow, you must release this divine śakti missile—either at Keśava (Kṛṣṇa) or at Arjuna.’”

Word by Word

प्रभातमात्रेat daybreak only / at dawn

श्वःtomorrow

भूतेhas become / has come to be

केशवायto Keshava (Krishna)

अर्जुनायto Arjuna

वाor

शक्तिःthe spear/weapon (Shakti)

एषाthis

हिindeed / for

मोक्तव्याmust be released/shot

कर्णO Karna

इतिthus

नित्यशःalways / continually

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Karna

Keśava (Kṛṣṇa)

Arjuna

Śakti (weapon)

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 highlights the moral tension of war-counsel: repeated strategic advice urges Karna to deploy a decisive divine weapon at the earliest moment. It underscores how relentless planning and fixation on victory can press warriors toward ethically weighty choices—especially when divine weapons are involved and the targets are central figures like Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to the king that, after each day’s fighting, the Kaurava side repeatedly advised Karna through the night that at the next dawn he should discharge the Śakti weapon, aiming it either at Kṛṣṇa (Keśava) or at Arjuna, to secure a decisive advantage.