Shloka 5
जब कर्णका वध हो गया, तब आपके किसी भी योद्धाका मन कदापि जल्दी पराक्रम दिखानेमें नहीं लगा और न सेनाको संगठित रखनेकी ओर ही किसीका ध्यान गया ।। वणिजो नावि भिन्नायामगाधे विप्लवे यथा । अपारे पारमिच्छन्तो हते द्वीपे किरीटिना,अगाध एवं अपार समुद्रमें तूफान उठनेपर जब जहाज फट जाता है, उस समय पार जानेकी इच्छावाले व्यापारियोंकी जैसी अवस्था होती है, वही दशा किरीटधारी अर्जुनके द्वारा द्वीपस्वरूप कर्णके मारे जानेपर कौरवोंकी हुई
sañjaya uvāca |
vaṇijo nāvi bhinnāyām agādhe viplave yathā |
apāre pāram icchanto hate dvīpe kirīṭinā ||
karṇe hate tadā rājan na kaścid yuyudhe tava |
na ca senāṃ samādhātuṃ matir āsīt kathaṃcana ||
Sanjaya said: O King, when Karna was slain, none among your warriors found the heart to display swift valor, nor did anyone turn his mind to keeping the army in order. Just as merchants, longing to cross, are thrown into helpless confusion when their ship is shattered in a storm on a deep and boundless sea, so too did the Kauravas become disoriented when the diadem-wearing Arjuna killed Karna—who stood like an island of support amid the battle’s flood.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how an army’s strength depends not only on individual heroes but on collective morale and leadership. When a central support is lost, even capable warriors can become directionless—like travelers without a vessel—showing the ethical importance of steadiness, organization, and responsibility in crisis.
After Arjuna (the diadem-wearer) kills Karna, the Kaurava forces lose cohesion. Sanjaya reports to the king that no warrior quickly steps forward with decisive valor, and no one focuses on reorganizing the troops; their condition is compared to merchants stranded when their ship breaks apart in a stormy, shoreless sea.