Shloka 563
सामात्यबान्धवो राजन् कर्ण: प्रहरतां वर: । राजन! इस प्रकार कर्ण और अर्जुनके संग्राममें यह भारी संहार हुआ है। जैसे देवराज इन्द्रने वृत्रासुरको, श्रीरामचन्द्रजीने रावणको, नरकशत्रु श्रीकृष्णने नरक और मुरुको तथा भृगुवंशी परशुरामने तीनों लोकोंको मोहित करनेवाला अत्यन्त घोर युद्ध करके समरांगणमें रणदुर्मद शूरवीर कृतवीर्यकुमार अर्जुनको उसके भाई-बन्धुओंसहित मार डाला था, जैसे स्कन्दने महिषासुरका और रुद्रने अन्धकासुरका संहार किया था, उसी प्रकार अर्जुनने योद्धाओंमें श्रेष्ठ युद्धदुर्मद कर्णको द्वैरथयुद्धमें उसके मन्त्री और बन्धुओंसहित मार डाला
sa-mātya-bāndhavo rājan karṇaḥ praharatāṃ varaḥ |
Sañjaya said: O King, Karṇa—foremost among those who strike—stood together with his ministers and kinsmen. Thus, in the battle between Karṇa and Arjuna, a tremendous slaughter occurred. Just as Indra slew Vṛtra, Rāma slew Rāvaṇa, Kṛṣṇa (the foe of Naraka) slew Naraka and Mura, and Paraśurāma of the Bhṛgu line, after a most dreadful war that bewildered the three worlds, killed the battle-maddened hero Arjuna, son of Kṛtavīrya, along with his brothers and allies; just as Skanda destroyed Mahiṣāsura and Rudra destroyed Andhaka—so too did Arjuna, in a chariot-duel, slay Karṇa, the best of warriors, intoxicated with battle, together with his ministers and kinsmen. The narration frames Karṇa’s fall as a divinely patterned act of retributive justice within war: heroic prowess is acknowledged, yet it culminates under the larger moral order that governs the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage underscores that even the greatest martial excellence is ultimately subordinate to a larger moral-cosmic order: victories and deaths in war are narrated as patterned after divine precedents, suggesting that pride in battle (yuddha-durmada) and worldly power do not override the workings of dharma and destiny.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that in the fierce chariot-duel, Arjuna slew Karṇa along with his ministers and kinsmen. To convey the magnitude of the event, he compares it to famous mythic slayings by Indra, Rāma, Kṛṣṇa, Paraśurāma, Skanda, and Rudra.