Shloka 14
Adhyāya 5 (Śānti-parva): Nārada’s account of Karṇa—Jarāsandha encounter and the causal grounds of Karṇa’s fall
अस्त्राणि दिव्यान्यादाय युधि गाण्डीवधन्चना । हतो वैकर्तन: कर्णो दिवाकरसमझ्युति:
astrāṇi divyāny ādāya yudhi gāṇḍīvadhanvanā | hato vaikartanaḥ karṇo divākarasama-dyutiḥ ||
Nārada dit : Ayant saisi les armes divines, Arjuna —le manieur du Gāṇḍīva— tua au combat Karṇa Vaikartana, dont l’éclat était semblable à celui du soleil.
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the decisive power of divinely empowered knowledge and weaponry when rightly acquired and applied, while also reminding the reader that war consumes even the most radiant heroes—suggesting an ethical tension between martial duty and the sorrowful cost of violence.
Nārada states that Arjuna, armed with divine astras and bearing the Gāṇḍīva bow, slew Karṇa in battle—describing Karṇa as sun-like in brilliance to emphasize the magnitude of the fallen warrior.