Shloka 63
अस्तं गच्छन् यथादित्य: प्रभामादाय गच्छति । तथा जीवितमादाय कर्णस्येषुर्जगाम स:,बाणमयी उद्दीप्त किरणोंसे शत्रुकी सेनाको तपाकर कर्णरूपी सूर्य बलवान् अर्जुनरूपी कालसे प्रेरित हो अस्ताचलको जा पहुँचा। जैसे अस्ताचलको जाता हुआ सूर्य अपनी प्रभाको लेकर चला जाता है, उसी प्रकार वह बाण कर्णके प्राण लेकर चला गया
astaṃ gacchan yathādityaḥ prabhām ādāya gacchati | tathā jīvitam ādāya karṇasyeṣur jagāma saḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “As the sun, when setting, seems to depart carrying away its radiance, so that arrow departed after taking away Karṇa’s life.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights impermanence: even the most radiant hero meets an inevitable end, just as the sun’s light seems to withdraw at sunset. It underscores the tragic certainty of mortality within the ethical gravity of war.
Sañjaya describes the decisive moment when the arrow leaves after taking Karṇa’s life, using a simile of the setting sun carrying away its radiance to convey the finality and poignancy of Karṇa’s fall.