Shloka 38
नानाभरणवान् राजंस्तप्तजाम्बूनदाड़द: । हतो वैकर्तनः शेते पादपो5ड्कुरवानिव,राजन! नाना प्रकारके आभूषणोंसे विभूषित तथा तपाये हुए सुवर्णका अंगद (बाजूबंद) धारण किये वैकर्तन कर्ण मारा जाकर अंकुरयुक्त वृक्षके समान पड़ा था
nānābharaṇavān rājan taptajāmbūnadāṅgadaḥ | hato vaikartanaḥ śete pādapāṅkuravān iva rājan ||
Śalya said: “O king, Vaikartana Karṇa—adorned with many ornaments and wearing an armlet of heated Jāmbūnada gold—lies slain, stretched on the ground like a tree fallen with its sprouts still upon it.” The image underscores the tragic waste of heroic power in war: even the richly adorned and mighty are brought low when adharma-driven conflict reaches its inevitable end.
शल्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the impermanence of worldly splendor and martial glory: ornaments and wealth cannot shield one from the consequences of war. It implicitly warns that when conflict is driven by adharma, even the greatest heroes fall, leaving only a poignant lesson about the cost of violence and the fragility of human greatness.
Śalya addresses the king (Duryodhana) and reports the sight of Karṇa after his death: Karṇa, famed as Vaikartana, lies slain on the battlefield, still adorned with many ornaments and wearing a golden armlet. The simile compares his fallen body to a sprout-bearing tree laid low, emphasizing both his former vitality and the finality of his fall.