Shloka 42
प्रताप्य पाण्डवान् सर्वान् पञ्चालांश्चास्त्रतेजसा,अस्त्रके तेजसे सम्पूर्ण पाण्डव और पांचालोंको संताप देकर, बाणोंकी वषकि द्वारा शत्रुसेनाको तपाकर तथा सहस््र किरणोंवाले तेजस्वी सूर्यके समान सम्पूर्ण संसारमें अपना प्रताप बिखेरकर वैकर्तन कर्ण पुत्र और वाहनोंसहित मारा गया। याचकरूपी पक्षियोंके समुदायके लिये जो कल्पवृक्षके समान था, वह कर्ण मार गिराया गया
pratāpya pāṇḍavān sarvān pāñcālāṁś cāstratejasā | śatrusenāṁ ca bāṇavarṣair ātapya sahasrakiraṇavat sūrya iva jagati pratāpaṁ vikirya vaikartanaḥ karṇaḥ putrair vāhanaiś ca saha hataḥ | yācakarūpipakṣisaṅghasya kalpavṛkṣa iva sa karṇaḥ nipātitaḥ ||
Śalya said: “Having scorched all the Pāṇḍavas and the Pāñcālas with the blazing power of his weapons, and having tormented the enemy host with showers of arrows, Karṇa—Vaikartana—spread his fame like the thousand-rayed sun across the world. Yet that very Karṇa was slain, together with his sons and his charioteers and mounts. He who had been like a wish-fulfilling tree to the flock of ‘birds’ in the form of supplicants was brought down.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes Karṇa’s overwhelming martial brilliance with his fall, highlighting the Mahābhārata’s recurring ethic: worldly glory and power are impermanent, while moral qualities—here, Karṇa’s famed generosity to supplicants—remain the enduring measure of a person.
Śalya describes Karṇa’s fierce performance in battle—burning the Pāṇḍavas and Pāñcālas with weapon-power and arrow-showers—then states that Karṇa was ultimately killed along with his sons and attendants, despite being renowned as a ‘kalpavṛkṣa’ to those who sought his gifts.