Shloka 46
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४० (कृष्णेन कर्णं प्रति पाण्डवबल-वैशिष्ट्यप्रदर्शनम्) / Udyoga Parva, Chapter 140
Krishna’s appraisal of Pandava advantage and war portents
यदा द्रक्ष्यसि मां कृष्ण निहतं सव्यसाचिना । पुनश्चितिस्तदा चास्य यज्ञस्थाथ भविष्यति
yadā drakṣyasi māṃ kṛṣṇa nihataṃ savyasācinā | punaś citis tadā cāsya yajñasthātha bhaviṣyati ||
Karna dit : «Ô Kṛṣṇa, lorsque tu me verras abattu par Savyasācin (Arjuna), alors son bûcher funéraire, lui aussi, redeviendra comme un autel de sacrifice.»
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames battlefield death through the ethical lens of kṣatriya-dharma and Vedic sacrifice: a warrior’s end is imagined as a ritual offering, where the pyre/altar imagery elevates death from mere violence to a solemn, duty-bound act with moral weight.
Karna addresses Kṛṣṇa and foretells that Kṛṣṇa will witness Karna’s death at Arjuna’s hands. He then uses a striking metaphor: Arjuna’s ‘citi’ (pyre/altar) will become like a yajña-site again—suggesting that the coming slaughter will resemble a sacrificial rite in its inevitability and gravity.