Shloka 141
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४० (कृष्णेन कर्णं प्रति पाण्डवबल-वैशिष्ट्यप्रदर्शनम्) / Udyoga Parva, Chapter 140
Krishna’s appraisal of Pandava advantage and war portents
इति श्रीमहाभारते उद्योगपर्वणि भगवद्यानपर्वणि कर्णोपनिवादे एकचत्वारिंशदधिकशततमो<ध्याय:
iti śrīmahābhārate udyogaparvaṇi bhagavadyānaparvaṇi karṇopanivāde ekacatvāriṃśad-adhikaśatatamo 'dhyāyaḥ
Thus ends the one-hundred-and-forty-first chapter in the Udyoga Parva of the Śrī Mahābhārata, within the section concerning the Lord’s embassy, in the episode of Karṇa’s rebuttal.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
As a colophon, the verse itself teaches indirectly: it frames Karṇa’s speech as a formal ‘rebuttal’ within a diplomatic crisis. The ethical tension highlighted by this framing is between personal loyalty and honor on one side, and broader claims of righteousness and reconciliation on the other—an emblematic Mahābhārata conflict where dharma is contested rather than simple.
This line closes a chapter in the Udyoga Parva, specifically in the Bhagavad-yāna section (the Lord’s embassy). It signals that the preceding content belonged to the episode of Karṇa’s response/counter-argument, situated amid negotiations and escalating preparations for the Kurukṣetra war.