Shloka 6
कर्णनिधनश्रवणम् — Hearing of Karṇa’s Fall and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament
हतशेषस्य भीष्मेण द्रोणेन च महात्मना । अर्ध निहत्य सैन्यस्य कर्णो वैकर्तनो हतः:,भीष्म और महात्मा द्रोणके मारनेसे जो पाण्डव-सेना बच गयी थी, उसके आधे भागका विनाश करके वैकर्तन कर्ण मारा गया है
hataśeṣasya bhīṣmeṇa droṇena ca mahātmanā | ardhaṃ nihatya sainyasya karṇo vaikartano hataḥ ||
Sañjaya said: After Bhīṣma and the great-souled Droṇa had already cut down the army so that only a remnant remained, Vaikartana Karṇa—having then destroyed half of that remaining force—was himself slain. The report underscores the relentless arithmetic of war: even the mightiest, though capable of vast destruction, are not beyond the consequences of violence and the turning of fate within a dharma-conflicted battle.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even extraordinary prowess does not exempt one from the moral and existential law of consequence: in a dharma-conflicted war, victory and destruction are transient, and the slayer too becomes slain. The verse highlights the tragic symmetry of violence and the inevitability of reversal.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that after Bhīṣma and Droṇa had already reduced the Pāṇḍava forces to a remnant, Karṇa further destroyed half of what remained; nevertheless, Karṇa himself was killed.