Shloka 49
कृतं कार्य च मन्यन्तां मित्रकार्येप्सवो युधि । “आज युद्धमें कर्णके मारे जानेपर मित्रके कार्यकी सिद्धि चाहनेवाले सोमकवंशी महारथी अपनेको कृतकार्य समझ लें ।। न जाने च कथं प्रीति: शैनेयस्याद्य माधव
kṛtaṃ kāryaṃ ca manyantāṃ mitrakārye'psavo yudhi | āja yuddhe karṇake māre jāne'para mitrasya kārya-siddhiṃ cāhayamānāḥ somakavaṃśyā mahārathāḥ ātmānaṃ kṛtakāryaṃ manyantām || na jāne ca kathaṃ prītiḥ śaineyasyādya mādhava
Sañjaya said: “Let those who, in this battle, longed to accomplish a friend’s cause consider their task fulfilled. Today, with Karṇa slain in the war, the Somaka-lineage great chariot-warriors who sought the success of their ally’s purpose may deem themselves to have achieved their aim. Yet I do not know, O Mādhava, how Śaineya’s heart will feel today.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between achieving an ally’s objective in war and the uncertain inner consequences that follow. Even when a strategic goal is ‘fulfilled’ (kṛtakārya), the moral and emotional reckoning—especially for devoted fighters like Śaineya—may not align with outward victory.
Sañjaya reports that with Karṇa’s death, the allied Somaka/Pāñcāla great warriors who fought to secure their friend’s cause can regard their mission as accomplished. He then turns to Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava), expressing uncertainty about how Sātyaki (Śaineya) will feel in the wake of this decisive killing.