Shloka 1
संजय कहते हैं--राजन्! तदनन्तर आपकी कुमन्त्रणाके फलस्वरूप जब वहाँ शंख और भेरियोंकी गम्भीर ध्वनि होने लगी, उस समय वहाँ श्वेत घोड़ोंवाले दोनों नरश्रेष्ठ वैकर्तन कर्ण और अर्जुन युद्धके लिये एक-दूसरेकी ओर बढ़े
sañjaya uvāca—rājan! tadanantaraṁ tava kumantreṇa phala-svarūpe yatra śaṅkha-bherīṇāṁ gambhīrā dhvaniḥ pravavṛte, tadā tatra śveta-aśva-vāhanau ubhau naraśreṣṭhau vaikartanaḥ karṇaḥ arjunaś ca yuddhāya parasparaṁ prati abhyavartatām.
Dijo Sañjaya: ¡Oh rey! Después—como fruto de tu consejo desacertado—cuando en aquel campo se alzaron las hondas y resonantes llamadas de las caracolas y los tambores de guerra, los dos más excelsos entre los hombres, Vaikartana Karna y Arjuna, ambos sobre caballos blancos, avanzaron el uno hacia el otro para combatir.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights moral causality in governance: a ruler’s flawed counsel and choices (kumantreṇa) mature into collective suffering, symbolized by the war-sounds that summon even the greatest heroes into destructive conflict.
As conches and war-drums thunder on the battlefield, Karna (Vaikartana) and Arjuna—both described as foremost warriors with white-horsed chariots—move toward each other, signaling the imminent clash between the two champions.