Shloka 44
हतो वैकर्तन: कर्ण: सपुत्र: सहवाहन: । अर्थिनां पक्षिसंघस्य कल्पवृक्षो निपातित:
śalya uvāca — hato vaikartanaḥ karṇaḥ saputraḥ sahavāhanaḥ | arthināṃ pakṣi-saṅghasya kalpa-vṛkṣo nipātitaḥ ||
Śalya berkata: “Vaikartana Karṇa telah gugur—bersama putranya dan tunggangannya. Ia yang berdiri laksana pohon kalpavṛkṣa bagi kawanan pemohon telah ditebang. Setelah membakar para Pāṇḍava dan Pāñcāla dengan kilau senjatanya, menyiksa bala musuh dengan hujan anak panah, dan menebarkan kemasyhuran laksana matahari seribu sinar—Karṇa yang perkasa itu rebah di medan laga.”
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse juxtaposes Karṇa’s famed generosity (likened to a kalpavṛkṣa for supplicants) with the stark finality of death in war. It suggests that personal virtues like dāna and valor do not by themselves avert downfall when one is bound to an unrighteous cause and the destructive momentum of battle.
Śalya announces and describes Karṇa’s fall: after inflicting intense suffering on the Pāṇḍavas and the Pāñcālas with weapon-brilliance and arrow-showers, Karṇa—along with his son and chariot-team—is brought down. The statement functions as both report and lament, marking a decisive shift in the war’s course.