Shloka 51
स वध्यमानो रक्षसा वै निशी्थे दृष्टवा राजंस्त्रास्यमानं बल॑ं च | महच्छुत्वा निनदं कौरवाणां मतिं दश्ने शक्तिमोक्षाय कर्ण:,राजन्! निशीथकालमें राक्षसके प्रहारसे घायल होते हुए कर्णने अपनी सेनाको भयभीत देख कौरवोंका महान् आर्तनाद सुनकर घटोत्कचपर शक्ति छोड़नेका निश्चय कर लिया
sa vadhyamāno rakṣasā vai niśīthe dṛṣṭvā rājan trāsyamānaṃ balaṃ ca | mahac chrutvā ninadaṃ kauravāṇāṃ matiṃ dadhne śaktimokṣāya karṇaḥ, rājan ||
Sañjaya said: Struck down by the rākṣasa in the depth of night, Karṇa saw, O King, the army thrown into panic; and hearing the great tumult and anguished cry of the Kauravas, he resolved, O King, to hurl his spear-weapon—deciding upon the discharge of the Śakti against Ghaṭotkaca. Ethically, the verse frames Karṇa’s choice as a crisis-response in war: a costly, decisive act taken to protect his side from terror and collapse, even at the price of expending a singular, fated weapon.
संजय उवाच