Shloka 783
कर्णो<र्जुनं रणे हन्ता हते तस्मिन् किमब्रवीत् | गान्धारराज शकुनिके साथ सभामें दुर्योधनने जो यह कहा था कि “कर्ण अर्जुनको मार डालेगा', उसके विपरीत जब कर्ण स्वयं मारा गया तब उसने क्या कहा?
karṇo 'rjunaṃ raṇe hantā hate tasmin kim abravīt | gāndhārarāja śakunike sātha sabhāyāṃ duryodhanena yo 'yaṃ uktaḥ—“karṇa arjunaṃ mārayiṣyati” iti, tasya viparītaṃ yadā karṇaḥ svayaṃ hataḥ tadā sa kim avravīt |
Vaiśampāyana said: “Karna was proclaimed to be the slayer of Arjuna in battle. But when Karna himself was slain, what did Duryodhana say then—contrary to what he had earlier declared in the assembly to Shakuni, the king of Gandhara, that ‘Karna will kill Arjuna’?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the moral and narrative irony of overconfidence and political boasting in war: declarations made in court can be overturned by destiny and the realities of dharma-yuddha, reminding leaders that counsel and pride do not control outcomes.
Vaiśampāyana frames a transition: earlier Duryodhana assured Shakuni in the royal assembly that Karna would kill Arjuna, but after Karna is killed instead, the narrator asks what Duryodhana said—setting up Duryodhana’s reaction to the reversal and the deepening crisis for the Kauravas.