Shloka 25
कर्णनिधनश्रवणम् — Hearing of Karṇa’s Fall and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament
नित्यं प्रसक्तवैरो यः पाण्डवै: पृथिवीपति: । विश्राव्य वैरं पार्थेन श्रुतायु: स निपातित:,जो पाण्डवोंके साथ सदा वैर बाँधे रखता था, उस राजा श्रुतायुको कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनने उसकी शत्रुताका स्मरण कराकर मार डाला
nityaṁ prasaktavairo yaḥ pāṇḍavaiḥ pṛthivīpatiḥ | viśrāvya vairaṁ pārthena śrutāyuḥ sa nipātitaḥ ||
Sañjaya said: The king Śrutāyu, who had long maintained a fixed enmity toward the Pāṇḍavas, was brought down by Pārtha (Arjuna) after Arjuna called his hostility to mind and made it manifest—thus meeting him in battle with the consequences of his chosen feud.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Persistent, willfully maintained enmity ripens into inevitable conflict and downfall; in the battlefield context, a warrior who clings to hostility meets its consequences when confronted by a stronger, duty-bound opponent.
Sañjaya reports that Śrutāyu, a king who had long been hostile to the Pāṇḍavas, is slain by Arjuna (Pārtha). The verse frames the killing as the culmination of Śrutāyu’s sustained feud, which Arjuna explicitly brings to the fore in the encounter.