Shloka 343
दुर्योधनस्थाधमपूरुषस्य यस्यानयादेष महान् क्षयो5भवत् | “कर्ण! तू ही इस कलहकी जड़ है। दुर्योधनका सहारा मिल जानेसे तेरा घमंड बहुत बढ़ गया है। आज रणक्षेत्रमें मैं हठपूर्वक तेरा वध करूँगा और जिसके अन्यायसे यह महान् संहार हुआ है, उस नराधम दुर्योधनका वध युद्धमें भीमसेन करेंगे”
sañjaya uvāca | duryodhana-sthādhama-puruṣasya yasyānayād eṣa mahān kṣayo 'bhavat | “karṇa! tvaṃ hi asya kalahasyā jadaḥ asi. duryodhanasya sahāyaṃ labdhvā tava garvaḥ bahu vardhitaḥ. adya raṇa-kṣetre 'haṃ haṭha-pūrvakaṃ tava vadhaṃ kariṣyāmi, yasya anyāyena ayaṃ mahān saṃhāraḥ jātaḥ, taṃ narādhamaṃ duryodhanaṃ yuddhe bhīmasenaḥ haniṣyati.”
Sañjaya said: “Karna, you are the very root of this strife. Having gained Duryodhana’s support, your arrogance has greatly increased. Today, on the battlefield, I will stubbornly bring about your death. And Duryodhana—that vilest of men—by whose injustice this vast slaughter has come to pass, will be slain in war by Bhīmasena.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames catastrophic war as the fruit of adharma: pride fed by wrongful alliances and injustice becomes a causal chain leading to mass destruction, and moral responsibility is explicitly assigned to those who instigate and sustain unrighteous conflict.
A warrior’s vow is reported: Karna is accused of being the chief instigator of the feud and is threatened with death on the battlefield; Duryodhana, blamed for injustice that caused the slaughter, is foretold to be slain by Bhīmasena.