Shloka 23
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
को नु मे जीवितेनार्थों राज्येनार्थों भवेत् पुन: । ममैवं विक्षतस्याद्य कर्णेनाहवशोभिना,स त्वां पृच्छामि कौन्तेय यथाद्य कुशलं तथा । तन्ममाचक्ष्व कार्त्स्न्येन यथा कर्णो हतस्त्वया कुन्तीनन्दन! इसीलिये मैं तुमसे पूछता हूँ कि आज जिस प्रकार सकुशल रहकर तुमने कर्णको मारा है, वह सारा समाचार मुझे पूर्णरूपसे बताओ
ko nu me jīvitena artho rājyenārtho bhavet punaḥ | mamaivaṁ vikṣatasya adya karṇenāhava-śobhinā, sa tvāṁ pṛcchāmi kaunteya yathādya kuśalaṁ tathā | tan mamācakṣva kārtsnyena yathā karṇo hatas tvayā kuntī-nandana ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “What use is life to me now—what use is kingship again—when I have been thus wounded today by Karṇa, the very glory of the battlefield? Therefore, O son of Kuntī, I ask you: tell me, just as you have returned safe today, the whole account in full—how Karṇa was slain by you.”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of war: even rightful kingship feels hollow when one is wounded in spirit and body by the conflict. It underscores the primacy of human cost over political gain and the need for truthful, complete reporting of decisive acts in a dharmic struggle.
After being struck and shaken by Karṇa’s prowess, Yudhiṣṭhira turns to Arjuna (addressed as Kaunteya/Kuntī-nandana) and asks whether he is safe and to narrate in full how he managed to kill Karṇa, the foremost ornament of the battlefield.