Shloka 1
इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ााभारत कर्णपर्वमें शल्यका युद्धसे प्रत्यागमनविषयक बानबेवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ ॥/ ९२ ॥। ऑपन--माज बछ। अकाल त्रिनवतितमो<्थ्याय: भीमसेनद्वारा पचीस हजार पैदल सैनिकोंका वध, अर्जुनद्वारा रथसेनाका विध्वंस, कौरव-सेनाका पलायन और दुर्योधनका उसे रोकनेके लिये विफल प्रयास धृतराष्ट्र रवाच तस्मिंस्तु कर्णार्जुनयोर्विमर्दे दग्धस्य रौद्रेडहनि विद्रुतस्य । बभूव रूपं कुरुसृञजयानां बलस्य बाणोन्मथितस्य कीदृक्
sañjaya uvāca | iti prakāraṃ śrīmahābhārate karṇaparvaṇi śalyakā yuddhāt pratyāgamanaviṣayako dvānavatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ samāptaḥ || 92 ||
atha trayonavatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ—bhīmasenena pañcaviṃśatisahasraṃ padātisainyasya vadhaḥ, arjunena rathasenāyā vidhvaṃsaḥ, kauravasenāyā palāyanam, duryodhanasya tāṃ nivārayituṃ viphalaprayatnaś ca |
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
tasmiṃstu karṇārjunayor vimarde dagdhasya raudre 'hani vidrutasya |
babhūva rūpaṃ kurusṛñjayānāṃ balasya bāṇonmathitasya kīdṛk ||
Sanjaya said: Thus ends the ninety-second chapter of the Karna Parva of the great Mahabharata, describing Shalya’s return from the battlefield. Now begins the ninety-third chapter: Bhimasena’s slaughter of twenty-five thousand foot-soldiers, Arjuna’s destruction of the chariot-corps, the flight of the Kaurava army, and Duryodhana’s futile attempt to stop that rout. Dhritarashtra said: In that fierce clash between Karna and Arjuna—on that dreadful day, when the army had been scorched and driven into flight—what was the condition of the forces of the Kurus and the Srinjayas, shaken and torn apart by showers of arrows?
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war as a moral and human catastrophe: even heroic duels (Karna vs. Arjuna) culminate in armies ‘burnt’ and ‘routed.’ It highlights the ethical cost of adharma-driven conflict—leadership choices and attachment (Dhritarashtra’s concern) lead to collective suffering and irreversible loss.
A chapter colophon closes Chapter 92 and introduces Chapter 93’s events (Bhima’s mass slaughter, Arjuna’s destruction of the chariot division, the Kauravas fleeing, and Duryodhana’s failed attempt to stop them). Then Dhritarashtra questions Sanjaya about the state of both armies during the fierce Karna–Arjuna engagement, when the forces were shattered by arrows and driven into flight.