Shloka 29
हन्ताहं पाण्डवान् सर्वान् सपुत्रानिति योउब्रवीत् | तमद्य कर्ण हन्तास्मि मिषतां सर्वधन्विनाम्,“जिसने यह कहा था कि मैं *पुत्रोंसहित समस्त पाण्डवोंको मार डालूँगा” उस कर्णको आज समस्त धनुर्धरोंके देखते-देखते मैं नष्ट कर दूँगा
hantāhaṃ pāṇḍavān sarvān saputrān iti yo ’bravīt | tam adya karṇa hantāsmi miṣatāṃ sarvadhanvinām ||
Sañjaya said: “He who once declared, ‘I shall slay all the Pāṇḍavas together with their sons’—that Karṇa, today, before the very eyes of all the bowmen, I shall destroy.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between martial vows and accountability: a warrior’s public boast to annihilate opponents becomes a moral burden, and the battlefield—witnessed by all—turns into the place where pride is answered by decisive counter-action and the workings of fate.
Sañjaya reports a declaration that the very Karṇa who had earlier proclaimed he would kill all the Pāṇḍavas along with their sons is now to be destroyed that very day, in full view of the assembled archers—signaling an imminent turning point in the battle.