Shloka 1

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत कर्णपर्वमें जनमेजयवाक्य नामक पहला अध्याय पूरा हुआ,ऑपनआक्रा बछ। से, द्वितीयो&्ध्याय: धृतराष्ट्र और संजयका संवाद वैशम्पायन उवाच हते कर्णे महाराज निशि गावल्गणिस्तदा । दीनो ययौ नागपुरमश्चैर्वातसमैर्जवे वैशम्पायनजीने कहा--महाराज! कर्णके मारे जानेपर गवल्गणपुत्र संजय अत्यन्त दुःखी हो वायुके समान वेगशाली घोड़ोंद्वारा उसी रातमें हस्तिनापुर जा पहुँचे

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca—hate karṇe mahārāja niśi gāvalgaṇis tadā | dīno yayau nāgapuram aśvair vātasamair jave ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O great king, when Karṇa had been slain, Sañjaya, the son of Gāvalgaṇa, overwhelmed with sorrow, set out that very night and reached Nāgapura (Hastināpura), borne by horses swift as the wind.”

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

हतेwhen (he was) slain

कर्णेin/when Karṇa

महाराजO great king

निशिat night

गावल्गणिःGāvalgaṇi (Sañjaya)

तदाthen

दीनःdistressed, dejected

ययौwent

नागपुरम्Nāgapura (Hastināpura)

अश्वैःby horses

वातसमैःequal to the wind (in speed)

जवैःwith speed

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

Karṇa

Sañjaya (Gāvalgaṇa-putra)

Nāgapura (Hastināpura)

horses

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 human cost of war: even a seasoned witness like Sañjaya is crushed by grief, and the fall of a great warrior like Karṇa immediately reshapes duty and communication at court—truth must be carried to the king despite personal sorrow.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Karṇa is killed, Sañjaya—Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s charioteer and reporter—travels through the night with wind-swift horses to reach the royal city (Hastināpura) and deliver the devastating news.