Shloka 19
धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा स्त्रीणां च आर्तनादः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Collapse and the Lament of the Palace Women
राजन्! सेनापतिका पद पाकर महारथी कर्ण उच्चस्वरसे सिंहनाद करके रणोन्मत्त होकर युद्ध करने लगा ।।
rājan! senāpatikā-padaṁ prāpya mahārathī karṇa uccasvarena siṁhanādaṁ kṛtvā raṇonmattaḥ san yuddhaṁ kartum ārabdhavān. sa sṛñjayānāṁ sarveṣāṁ pāñcālānāṁ ca mārīṣa, kekayānāṁ videhānāṁ ca cakāra kadanaṁ mahat.
Sañjaya dijo: «¡Oh rey! Habiendo obtenido el cargo de comandante, el gran guerrero de carro Karṇa, rugiendo en voz alta como un león, embriagado por la furia de la batalla, se entregó al combate. Venerable señor, entonces causó una gran matanza entre todos los Sṛñjayas, los Pāñcālas, los Kekayas y los Videhas».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how authority and martial prestige (being made commander) can intensify the momentum of war: leadership in a dharma-conflict carries grave ethical weight because decisions and prowess translate directly into large-scale suffering and irreversible consequences.
After being appointed commander-in-chief, Karṇa raises a loud lion-like battle-cry and enters combat with heightened ferocity, inflicting heavy casualties upon key allied groups of the Pāṇḍavas—Sṛñjayas, Pāñcālas, Kekayas, and Videhas—as Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra.