Shloka 26
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
पूजितो धृतराष्ट्रेण सपुत्रेण महाबल: । त्वदर्थमेव राधेय: स कथं निहतस्त्वया
pūjito dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa saputreṇa mahābalaḥ | tvadartham eva rādheyaḥ sa kathaṃ nihatas tvayā ||
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Ese poderoso Rādheya (Karṇa) fue honrado por Dhṛtarāṣṭra junto con sus hijos, sostenido precisamente por tu causa—para enfrentarte. ¿Cómo, entonces, lograste matarlo?»
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological weight of war: even a righteous side must reckon with the fall of a celebrated hero. It points to the tension between personal valor and the larger forces of alliance, duty, and destiny that decide outcomes.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Arjuna, expressing astonishment that Karna—publicly honored and maintained by Dhṛtarāṣṭra and the Kauravas specifically to oppose Arjuna—has nevertheless been killed by Arjuna, and he asks how this occurred.