Shloka 79
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
नित्योद्युक्ते सततं चाप्रसहो कर्णे द्यूतं हाद्य रणे निबद्धम् । तस्मिन् हते कुरवो निर्जिता: स्यु- रेव॑ं बुद्धिः पार्थिवे धर्मपुत्रे
nityodyukte satataṃ cāprasaho karṇe dyūtaṃ hādya raṇe nibaddham | tasmin hate kuravo nirjitāḥ syur evaṃ buddhiḥ pārthive dharmaputre ||
Vāyu said: “Karna is ever active and constantly unyielding; today, in this battle, the decisive ‘game of dice’ has been bound up with him. If he is slain, the Kurus will be defeated. Such is the settled judgment regarding King Dharmaputra.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war as a moral and strategic turning-point: when a single pivotal force (Karna) is removed, the unjust side (the Kurus) collapses. It also uses the dyūta (dice) metaphor to recall how a prior ethical failure (gambling) set the conflict in motion, suggesting that outcomes in war are tied to earlier choices and their moral consequences.
Vāyudeva declares that Karna is the Kauravas’ crucial pillar—ever-ready and difficult to overcome. He predicts that if Karna is slain in the present battle, the Kurus will be defeated, and he presents this as the settled assessment concerning King Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira) and the war’s likely resolution.