Shloka 18

कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma

Devanagari script

मन:शिलोज्ज्वलापाड्ग्यो गौर्यस्त्रिककुदाउ्जना:,“जिनके नेत्रोंके प्रान्नभाग मैनसिलके आलेपसे उज्ज्वल हैं, दोनों नेत्र और ललाट अंजनसे सुशोभित हैं तथा जिनके सारे अंग कम्बल और मृगचर्मसे आवृत हैं, वे गोरे रंगवाली प्रियदर्शना (परम सुन्दरी) रमणियाँ मृदंग, ढोल, शंख और मर्दल आदि वाद्योंकी ध्वनिके साथ-साथ कब नृत्य करती दिखायी देंगी

Transliteration

manaḥśilojjvalāpāṅgyo gauryas trikakudāñjanāḥ

Translation

Karna said: “When shall I again behold those fair-complexioned, lovely women—whose eyes shine with the bright red unguent of manaḥśilā, whose eyes and forehead are adorned with collyrium—moving in dance to the resonant music of drums, kettledrums, conches, and mṛdaṅgas? Their limbs are wrapped in blankets and deer-skins; yet their beauty and charm remain unmistakable.”

Word by Word

• मनःशिलोज्ज्वलापाङ्ग्यः: women whose eye-corners are bright with red-arsenic (manahshila)
• मनःशिलोज्ज्वलापाङ्ग्यः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मनःशिला-उज्ज्वल-अपाङ्गी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• गौर्यः: fair-complexioned women
• गौर्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: गौरी
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

• त्रिककुदाञ्जनाः: women adorned with collyrium on the three prominences (both eyes and the forehead)
• त्रिककुदाञ्जनाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: त्रि-ककुद-अञ्जना
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Karna
• women (gauryāḥ/priyadarśanāḥ)
• manaḥśilā (realgar cosmetic)
• añjana (collyrium)
• mṛdaṅga
• ḍhola
• śaṅkha
• mardala
• blanket (kambala)
• deer-skin (mṛgacarma)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inner cost of war: even a mighty warrior like Karna is haunted by memories of peaceful, cultured life—beauty, music, and celebration—revealing how conflict severs one from ordinary human joys and intensifies longing for what is lost.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karna Parva context, Karna speaks in a reflective, yearning tone, imagining a return to scenes of festivity where beautiful women dance to instruments. The contrast between battlefield reality and remembered courtly pleasures underscores his emotional state amid the war.