Shloka 36
अहं त्वामनुजानामि यदिच्छसि तदाप्रुहि । क्षत्रधर्मजिताँललोकानवाप्स्यसि धनंजयात्,कर्ण! मैं तुम्हें आज्ञा देता हूँ। तुम जो चाहते हो, वह प्राप्त करो। धनंजयके हाथसे मारे जानेपर तुम्हें क्षत्रियधर्मके पालनसे प्राप्त होनेवाले लोकोंकी उपलब्धि होगी
bhīṣma uvāca | ahaṃ tvām anujānāmi yadicchasi tad āpruhi | kṣatradharmajitāṃl lokān avāpsyasi dhanaṃjayāt, karṇa |
Bhishma said: “I grant you leave. Attain what you desire. O Karna, if you are slain by Dhananjaya, you will reach those worlds won by the practice of kshatriya duty.”
भीष्म उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames death in righteous battle as a dharmic outcome for a kshatriya: if one upholds the warrior’s duty and meets death at the hands of a worthy opponent, one is said to attain meritorious realms. It also highlights the elder’s authority to grant leave and to interpret the ethical meaning of an impending death.
Bhishma addresses Karna, granting him permission to act as he wishes and indicating that if Karna is killed by Dhananjaya (Arjuna), that death will lead to the worlds gained by fulfilling kshatriya-dharma—an acknowledgment of the imminent, fated confrontation and its moral framing.