Shloka 53
एवमेष क्षयो वृत्त: कर्णार्जुनसमागमे । महेन्द्रेण यथा वृत्रो यथा रामेण रावण:,सामात्यबान्धवो राजन् कर्ण: प्रहरतां वर: । राजन! इस प्रकार कर्ण और अर्जुनके संग्राममें यह भारी संहार हुआ है। जैसे देवराज इन्द्रने वृत्रासुरको, श्रीरामचन्द्रजीने रावणको, नरकशत्रु श्रीकृष्णने नरक और मुरुको तथा भृगुवंशी परशुरामने तीनों लोकोंको मोहित करनेवाला अत्यन्त घोर युद्ध करके समरांगणमें रणदुर्मद शूरवीर कृतवीर्यकुमार अर्जुनको उसके भाई-बन्धुओंसहित मार डाला था, जैसे स्कन्दने महिषासुरका और रुद्रने अन्धकासुरका संहार किया था, उसी प्रकार अर्जुनने योद्धाओंमें श्रेष्ठ युद्धदुर्मद कर्णको द्वैरथयुद्धमें उसके मन्त्री और बन्धुओंसहित मार डाला
sañjaya uvāca | evameṣa kṣayo vṛttaḥ karṇārjunasamāgame | mahendreṇa yathā vṛtro yathā rāmeṇa rāvaṇaḥ, sāmātyabāndhavo rājan karṇaḥ praharatāṃ varaḥ |
Sanjaya said: “O King, thus did this destruction come to pass in the encounter between Karna and Arjuna—just as Vṛtra fell to great Indra, and Rāvaṇa to Rāma. So too did Karna, foremost among those who strike in battle, perish together with his ministers and kinsmen.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield death and mass destruction as part of an epic moral universe where even the greatest warriors fall when the decisive moment arrives. By invoking well-known exemplars (Indra–Vṛtra, Rāma–Rāvaṇa), it underscores the inevitability of consequence and the fragility of power, while also presenting victory as something that must be borne with gravity rather than triumphalism.
Sanjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a great slaughter occurred in the Karna–Arjuna encounter. He states that Karna—renowned as a foremost striker in battle—was slain along with his ministers and kinsmen, and he heightens the moment by comparing it to famous mythic defeats such as Vṛtra’s fall to Indra and Rāvaṇa’s fall to Rāma.