Shloka 536

Devanagari script

परेण कृच्छेण शिर: समत्यजद्‌ गृहं महर्धीव सुसड़मी श्वर: । तदनन्तर सदा सुख भोगनेके योग्य, उदारकर्मा कर्णके उस अत्यन्त सुन्दर शरीरको उसके मस्तकने बड़ी कठिनाईसे छोड़ा। ठीक उसी तरह, जैसे धनवान्‌ पुरुष अपने समृद्धिशाली घरको और मन एवं इन्द्रियोंको वशमें रखनेवाला पुरुष सत्संगको बड़े कष्टसे छोड़ पाता है

Transliteration

pareṇa kṛcchreṇa śiraḥ samatyajad gṛhaṃ mahardhīva susaṃyamīśvaraḥ | tadanantaraṃ sadā sukhabhoganeke-yogyaṃ udārakarmā karṇasya tad atyanta-sundaraṃ śarīraṃ tasya mastakena baḍī kaṭhināī se chōḍā | ṭhīk usī tarah, jaise dhanavān puruṣ apane samṛddhiśālī ghar ko aur mana evaṃ indriyoṃ ko vaśa meṃ rakhanevālā puruṣ satsanga ko baḍe kaṣṭa se chōḍ pāta hai ||

Translation

Sañjaya said: With extreme difficulty, Karṇa’s head at last relinquished that exceedingly beautiful body—fit for constant enjoyments and marked by noble deeds. It was like a wealthy man parting, with pain, from his prosperous home, or like a self-controlled master of mind and senses who can leave the company of the good only with great struggle.

Word by Word

• {'pareṇa': 'by the utmost, exceedingly', 'kṛcchreṇa': 'with great difficulty, painfully', 'śiraḥ': 'head', 'samatyajat': 'relinquished, abandoned, gave up', 'gṛham': 'house, home', 'mahardhī': 'very wealthy, possessing great riches', 'iva': 'like, as', 'susaṃyamī': 'well-restrained, self-controlled (mind and senses)', 'īśvaraḥ': 'master, lord (here: one who has mastery over himself)', 'tadanantaram': 'thereafter, immediately after that', 'sadā': 'always, continually', 'sukha-bhoga': 'pleasure and enjoyment', 'aneka-yogya': 'fit for many (kinds of), capable of much', 'udāra-karmā': 'one of noble deeds, magnanimous in action', 'karṇa': 'Karna', 'atyanta-sundara': 'exceedingly beautiful', 'śarīra': 'body', 'satsaṅga': 'company/association of the good, holy fellowship', 'kaṣṭa': 'hardship, distress'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karna
• head (śiraḥ)
• body (śarīra)
• home/house (gṛha)
• satsaṅga (company of the good)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the power of attachment: even when separation is inevitable (as in death), letting go of what is cherished—wealth, home, or even elevating companionship—can be profoundly difficult. It implicitly commends self-mastery and points to the ethical ideal of cultivating detachment before the moment of forced separation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya narrates the moment of Karṇa’s death, portraying his head’s final separation from his beautiful body as occurring only with great difficulty, and he illustrates this with analogies: a rich man leaving his splendid home, and a disciplined person leaving the company of the virtuous.