Shloka 126
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
भीष्मद्रोणवधेनैव कर्णस्य च महात्मन: । संजय! भीष्म, द्रोण और महामना कर्णके वधसे मुझपर लगातार एक-से-एक बढ़कर अत्यन्त दुःख तथा संकट आता गया है
bhīṣma-droṇa-vadhenaiva karṇasya ca mahātmanaḥ | sañjaya! bhīṣma, droṇa aura mahāmanā karṇa ke vadha se mujh par lagātāra eka-se-eka baṛhakar atyanta duḥkha tathā saṅkaṭa ātā gayā hai |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “O Sañjaya, ever since Bhīṣma and Droṇa were slain—and now the great-souled Karṇa as well—calamity after calamity has fallen upon me, each more grievous than the last. My sorrow and peril have only continued to intensify.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the outcomes of war—especially when driven by attachment, pride, and adharma—return as escalating sorrow. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s lament underscores moral responsibility: a ruler’s failure to restrain wrongdoing can culminate in irreversible loss and compounding grief.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses Sañjaya, reflecting on the successive deaths of major Kuru champions—Bhīṣma, Droṇa, and now Karṇa. He describes how each loss has brought him increasing distress, marking the collapse of Duryodhana’s support and the deepening crisis for the Kauravas.