Shloka 17
Chapter 61: Karṇa’s martial assurances and Bhīṣma’s strategic rebuttal in the Kuru assembly
यदैव रामे भगवत्यनिन्दये ब्रह्म ब्रुवाण: कृतवांस्तदस्त्रम् । तदैव धर्मश्न तपश्च नष्ट वैकर्तनस्यथाधमपूरुषस्य,“जिस समय अनिन्दनीय भगवान् परशुरामजीके समीप कर्णने अपनेको ब्राह्मण बताकर ब्रह्मास्त्रकी शिक्षा ली, उसी समय उस नराधम सूतपुत्रके धर्म और तपका नाश हो गया”
yadaiva rāme bhagavaty anindye brahma bruvāṇaḥ kṛtavāṁs tad astram | tadaiva dharmaś ca tapaś ca naṣṭaḥ vaikartanasya atha adhamapuruṣasya ||
Waiśaṃpāyana berkata: “Pada saat itulah—ketika Karna, dengan menyamar sebagai seorang brāhmaṇa, menerima dari Bhagavān Rāma (Paraśurāma) yang tak bercela ajaran Brahmāstra—pada saat itu pula dharma dan tapa dari Vaikartana yang hina itu hancur.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Knowledge and power gained through falsehood corrode one’s dharma and inner merit; even if the skill is acquired, the ethical breach undermines spiritual standing and foreshadows failure.
The narrator states that when Karṇa, disguising his identity as a brāhmaṇa, learned the Brahmāstra from Paraśurāma, that very act of deception caused the loss of his dharma and tapas—setting a moral and causal background for later consequences.