Shloka 71

Devanagari script

एवं कृते भवेत्‌ कार्य देवानामेव निश्चितम्‌ । आत्मकार्य च सर्वेषां गरीयस्त्रिदशेश्वर,“कर्ण दानव-पक्षका पुरुष है; अतः उसकी पराजय करनी चाहिये--ऐसा करनेपर निश्चितरूपसे देवताओंका ही कार्य सिद्ध होगा। देवेश्वर! अपना कार्य सभीके लिये गुरुतर होता है

Transliteration

evaṁ kṛte bhavet kāryaṁ devānām eva niścitam | ātmakāryaṁ ca sarveṣāṁ garīyas tridaśeśvara |

Translation

Sanjaya berkata: “Bila ini dilakukan, tujuan para dewa pasti tercapai. Wahai penguasa para Tiga Puluh (dewa), tugas yang ditetapkan bagi diri sendiri adalah yang paling berat di atas segalanya. Karena Karna berpihak pada kaum Daitya, ia harus dijatuhkan; dengan demikian, maksud ilahi akan terpenuhi dengan tegas.”

Word by Word

एवंthus, in this way

कृतेwhen (this is) done

भवेत्would be / should be

कार्यःto be done; fit to be done

देवानाम्of the gods

एवindeed, only

निश्चितम्certain, determined

आत्मकार्यone's own task/duty

चand

सर्वेषाम्of all

गरीयःheavier; more important

त्रिदशेश्वरO lord of the thirty (gods), i.e., Indra

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Karṇa

Devas

Tridaśeśvara (Indra)

Dānavas/Daityas (as a faction)

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 stresses that fulfilling one’s own necessary duty (ātmakārya) is paramount; actions aligned with a higher, divinely sanctioned purpose are presented as decisive and obligatory, even in the harsh context of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya frames Karṇa as aligned with the anti-divine (dānava/daitya) side and argues that defeating him will secure the gods’ intended outcome; he addresses Indra (tridaśeśvara) to emphasize the urgency and priority of this objective.