Shloka 763

Devanagari script

व्यधमत्‌ कालमेघं तं कर्णो वैकर्तनो वृष: । तब अस्त्रवेत्ताओंमें श्रेष्ठ वैकर्तन दानी कर्णने वायव्यास्त्रका संधान करके उस काले मेघको नष्ट कर दिया

Transliteration

vyadhamat kālameghaṃ taṃ karṇo vaikartano vṛṣaḥ |

Translation

Sañjaya dit : Karṇa Vaikartana, taureau parmi les guerriers, dissipa ce nuage sombre, pareil à un nuage du Temps. Suprême parmi les maîtres des armes, le généreux Karṇa invoqua l’arme Vāyavya et, par sa puissance, détruisit le nuage funeste.

Word by Word

व्यधमत्blew away, dispersed

कालमेघम्the dark cloud

तम्that (one)

कर्णःKarna

वैकर्तनःVaikartana (son of Vikartana; epithet of Karna)

वृषःthe bull (best of men)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Karṇa (Vaikartana)

kālamegha (dark/doom-like cloud)

Vāyavya-astra (weapon of the Wind-god, implied by context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal that disciplined expertise (astravidyā) and steadfast resolve can dispel even seemingly fate-like dangers (kāla-megha). It also frames martial power as something directed by knowledge and invocation, not mere brute force.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports that Karṇa, famed as Vaikartana and praised as foremost among warriors, counters an ominous dark cloud by employing the Vāyavya weapon, dispersing and destroying it.