Shloka 124
कर्णेन युधिष्ठिरानीकविदारणम् / Karṇa’s Breach of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Battle-Line
यथा शल्याद्य कर्णो<यं श्वेताश्वं कृष्णसारथिम् | प्रमथ्य हन्यात् कौन्तेयं तथा शीघ्रं विधीयताम्,शल्य! आप शीघ्र ऐसा प्रयत्न कीजिये, जिससे यह कर्ण उस श्वेतवाहन अर्जुनको, जिसके सारथि श्रीकृष्ण हैं, मथकर मार डाले
yathā śalyādya karṇo ’yaṃ śvetāśvaṃ kṛṣṇasārathim | pramathya hanyāt kaunteyaṃ tathā śīghraṃ vidhīyatām, śalya! |
Bhīṣma said: “O Śalya, act swiftly and arrange matters so that Karṇa may crush and slay that son of Kuntī—Arjuna—whose chariot is drawn by white horses and whose charioteer is Kṛṣṇa.”
पितामह उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights wartime counsel: decisive outcomes depend on swift, well-directed action and coordination. Ethically, it also underscores the tension between strategic necessity in battle and the grave moral weight of urging the killing of a principal opponent.
Bhīṣma addresses Śalya, urging him to take immediate steps so that Karṇa can overpower and kill Arjuna, identified by his white-horsed chariot and by Kṛṣṇa serving as his charioteer.