Shloka 72

Devanagari script

गुरो: सुतं चावरजं तथा55त्मन: पदातिनो<5थ द्विपसादिनश्च तान्‌ निरुध्यताभिद्रवताच्युतार्जुनौ श्रमेण संयोजयताशु सर्वश:

Transliteration

guroḥ sutaṁ cāvarajaṁ tathātmanaḥ padātino ’tha dvipasādinaś ca tān nirudhyatābhidravata acyutārjunau śrameṇa saṁyojayatāśu sarvaśaḥ

Translation

Karna dit : «Contenez le plus jeune fils de notre maître, et de même mes propres troupes—les fantassins comme ceux montés sur des éléphants. Puis élancez-vous, et de tous côtés, engagez sans tarder Acyuta (Krishna) et Arjuna dans un combat exténuant.»

Word by Word

गुरोःof the teacher

सुतम्son

चand

अवरजम्younger (brother/one)

तथाlikewise

आत्मनःof oneself/yourself

पदातिनःfoot-soldiers

अथthen/and now

द्विपसादिनःelephant-riders (those mounted on elephants)

चand

तान्those (them)

निरुध्यतrestrain/hold back

अभिद्रवतrun/charge towards

अच्युतार्जुनौAcyuta and Arjuna

श्रमेनby fatigue/with exertion

संयोजयतengage/join (them) in combat

आशुquickly

सर्वशःin every way/entirely

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

Acyuta (Krishna)

Arjuna

Droṇa (implied by 'guroḥ')

Aśvatthāman (implied by 'guroḥ sutaṁ ... avarajam')

infantry (padātinaḥ)

elephant corps / elephant-riders (dvipasādinaḥ)

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 battlefield leadership and strategic prioritization: a commander may restrain even allied forces if their movement disrupts the main objective, and then concentrate effort to pressure the principal opponents. Ethically, it reflects the Mahābhārata’s tension between kṣatriya duty (effective command in war) and the moral ambiguity of using overwhelming, exhausting tactics against key foes.

What is happening in the narrative?

Karna issues orders to his side: hold back the younger son of the preceptor (understood as Aśvatthāman, son of Droṇa) and also restrain Karna’s own infantry and elephant units; then charge and surround Krishna (Acyuta) and Arjuna, engaging them rapidly and from all directions to wear them down through sustained combat.