Shloka 46
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
यः शस्त्रभृच्छेष्ठतम: पृथिव्यां पितामहं व्याक्षिपदल्पचेता: । संख्यायमानो<र्थरथ: स कच्चित् त्वया हतोड्द्याधिरथिमहात्मन्,महात्मन्! जो पृथ्वीपर समस्त शणस्त्रधारियोंमें श्रेष्ठम समझा जाता था तथा जिस मूर्खने अर्धरथी गिना जानेपर पितामह भीष्मके ऊपर महान् आक्षेप किया था, उस अधिरथपुत्रको क्या तुमने आज मार डाला?
yāḥ śastrabhṛcchreṣṭhatamaḥ pṛthivyāṃ pitāmahaṃ vyākṣipad alpacetāḥ | saṅkhyāyamāno 'rdharathaḥ sa kaccit tvayā hato 'dhyādhirathimahātman ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Has that son of an Adhiratha—who was once regarded on earth as the foremost among weapon-bearers, yet in his folly cast aspersions upon the grandsire Bhīṣma when he was being counted as only a ‘half-chariot warrior’—has that man, O great-souled one, been slain by you today?”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of speech and pride in war: even a celebrated warrior can be morally diminished by foolish contempt for elders and by disparaging a revered figure like Bhīṣma. Martial excellence is not presented as sufficient without restraint, respect, and right conduct.
Yudhiṣṭhira questions a great warrior (contextually, Arjuna) about whether Karṇa has been slain. He identifies Karṇa by recalling his fame as a supreme fighter and his earlier reproach of Bhīṣma when Bhīṣma was being classed as an ‘ardharatha’—a lower martial rank—thus framing Karṇa’s death inquiry with a moral recollection of his past insult.