Shloka 1
कृष्णेन अर्जुनस्य प्रोत्साहनम् — Kṛṣṇa’s Exhortation to Arjuna
Prelude to Karṇa’s Slaying
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत कर्णपर्वमें संकुलयुद्धविषयक इकक््यावनवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ११ ॥। पम्प बछ। आर: द्विपञ्चाशत्तमो<5 ध्याय: दोनों सेनाओंका घोर पट कौरव-सेनाका व्यथित ना संजय उवाच क्षत्रियास्ते महाराज परस्परवधैषिण: । अन्योन्यं समरे जघ्नु: कृतवैरा: परस्परम्
sañjaya uvāca | kṣatriyās te mahārāja parasparavadhaiṣiṇaḥ | anyonyaṃ samare jaghnuḥ kṛtavairāḥ parasparam ||
Sañjaya dijo: «Oh gran rey, aquellos guerreros kshatriya, deseosos de la muerte unos de otros, ligados por enemistades largamente alimentadas, se abatieron en el campo de batalla y comenzaron a matarse mutuamente».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how entrenched enmity (kṛtavaira) and the desire to kill (vadhaiṣiṇ) can eclipse restraint and higher duty, turning battle into mutual destruction—an ethical warning about hatred’s self-perpetuating cycle.
Sanjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the warriors on both sides, driven by mutual hostility, are striking each other down in the thick of combat—setting the grim tone for the chapter’s battle description.