Shloka 19
धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा स्त्रीणां च आर्तनादः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Collapse and the Lament of the Palace Women
राजन्! सेनापतिका पद पाकर महारथी कर्ण उच्चस्वरसे सिंहनाद करके रणोन्मत्त होकर युद्ध करने लगा ।। स सूंजयानां सर्वेषां पठ्चालानां च मारिष | केकयानां विदेहानां चकार कदनं महत्,मान्यवर! उसने समस्त सूंजयों, पांचालों, केकयों और विदेहोंका महान् संहार किया
rājan! senāpatikā-padaṁ prāpya mahārathī karṇa uccasvarena siṁhanādaṁ kṛtvā raṇonmattaḥ san yuddhaṁ kartum ārabdhavān. sa sṛñjayānāṁ sarveṣāṁ pāñcālānāṁ ca mārīṣa, kekayānāṁ videhānāṁ ca cakāra kadanaṁ mahat.
Sañjaya said: “O King, having obtained the post of commander, the great chariot-warrior Karṇa, roaring aloud like a lion, became intoxicated with the fury of battle and set about fighting. Revered sir, he then wrought a great slaughter among all the Sṛñjayas, the Pāñcālas, the Kekayas, and the Videhas.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how authority and martial prestige (being made commander) can intensify the momentum of war: leadership in a dharma-conflict carries grave ethical weight because decisions and prowess translate directly into large-scale suffering and irreversible consequences.
After being appointed commander-in-chief, Karṇa raises a loud lion-like battle-cry and enters combat with heightened ferocity, inflicting heavy casualties upon key allied groups of the Pāṇḍavas—Sṛñjayas, Pāñcālas, Kekayas, and Videhas—as Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.