Shloka 27
युधिष्ठिरेमं बीभत्सुं त्वं सान्त्वयितुमरहसि । अनुज्ञातुं च कर्णस्य वधायाद्य दुरात्मन:
yudhiṣṭhiram imaṃ bībhatsuṃ tvaṃ sāntvayitum arhasi | anujñātuṃ ca karṇasya vadhāyādya durātmanaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “Console Yudhiṣṭhira in this matter, O Bībhatsu (Arjuna), and today also grant leave for the slaying of wicked-souled Karṇa.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights two intertwined duties in a dharmic crisis: compassionate reassurance of a distressed leader (consoling Yudhiṣṭhira) and decisive authorization for necessary action in war (assenting to Karṇa’s slaying). It frames ethical warfare as requiring both emotional steadiness and clear resolve.
Sañjaya reports a directive addressed to Arjuna: he should comfort Yudhiṣṭhira, who is troubled by events, and he should give his assent for the battle’s next decisive step—moving toward the killing of Karṇa, described here as wicked-souled.