Shloka 21
जयद्रथविमोचन–पलायनवृत्तान्तः
Recovery of Draupadī and Jayadratha’s flight
नग्नजित्प्रमुखांश्नैव गणान् जित्वा महारथान्,इस प्रकार पुरुषसिंह महारथी कर्ण नग्नजित् आदि महारथी नरेशसमुदायोंको जीतकर सारी पृथ्वीको पराजित करके अपने वशमें कर लेनेके पश्चात् हस्तिनापुरको लौट आया
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: Nagnajit-pramukhān eva gaṇān jitvā mahārathān, evaṃ puruṣa-siṃho mahārathī Karṇaḥ Nagnajit-ādīn mahārathī nṛpa-samudāyān jitvā sarvāṃ pṛthivīṃ parājitya sva-vaśaṃ kṛtvā tataḥ Hastināpuraṃ pratyāgacchat.
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: Habiendo vencido a los grandes guerreros de carro encabezados por Nagnajit, Karṇa—león entre los hombres y el más eminente de los combatientes—derrotó a aquellas asambleas de reyes como Nagnajit, sometió toda la tierra, la puso bajo su dominio y luego regresó a Hastināpura.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ideal of kṣatriya prowess and imperial consolidation—victory over rival kings and the bringing of territory under one’s control—while implicitly inviting reflection on dharmic restraint: political success and domination are not automatically identical with righteousness, and the epic often probes the moral cost of conquest.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Karṇa defeats Nagnajit and other great warriors and kings, subdues the wider realm (‘the earth’ as a figure for many kingdoms), and then returns to the Kuru capital, Hastināpura, after completing this campaign.