Shloka 183

कर्णस्य सेनापत्याभिषेकः | Karṇa’s Consecration as Commander-in-Chief

Devanagari script

कैकेयेन च विक्रम्य भ्रात्रा भ्राता निपातित: । केकयदेशीय योद्धाओंसे घिरे हुए भीमके समान पराक्रमी केकयराजकुमारको उन्हींके भाई दूसरे केकयराजकुमारने बलपूर्वक मार गिराया

Transliteration

kaikeyena ca vikramya bhrātrā bhrātā nipātitaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya said: Advancing with force, one Kaikeya brother struck down his own brother. Though that Kaikeya prince was a warrior of great prowess—like Bhīma amid surrounding Kekaya fighters—he was felled by the might of his own brother.

Word by Word

• कैकेयेन: by the Kaikeya (prince/warrior)
• कैकेयेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कैकेय
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• विक्रम्य: having advanced/stridden forth; having attacked
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-क्रम्
• Form: Lyap (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral here)

• भ्रात्रा: by (his) brother
• भ्रात्रा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• भ्राता: (his) brother
• भ्राता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• निपातितः: was struck down / felled
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-√पत्
• Form: Past passive participle (kta), Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Passive

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kaikeya (a Kaikeya prince/warrior)
• Brother (fraternal pair among Kaikeyas)
• Bhīma (as a simile in the given context)
• Kekaya/Kaikeya people (implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical collapse that war can bring: even the natural dharma of protecting one’s own kin is overturned, and fraternal bonds are sacrificed to factional loyalty and battlefield fury.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield incident in which a Kaikeya prince, renowned for valor, is forcibly struck down by his own brother—an image of internecine violence amid the wider Kurukṣetra war.