Shloka 64
धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)
को वा मुखमनीकानामासीत् कर्णे निपातिते । अर्जुन वासुदेवं च को वा प्रत्युद्ययौ रथी,कर्णके मारे जानेपर सेनाके मुखस्थानपर खड़ा होनेवाला कौन था? कौन रथी अर्जुन और श्रीकृष्णका सामना करनेके लिये आगे बढ़ा?
ko vā mukham anīkānām āsīt karṇe nipātite | arjuna-vāsudevaṃ ca ko vā pratyudyayau rathī ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “When Karṇa had been struck down, who then stood at the forefront of the Kaurava battle-array? And what chariot-warrior advanced to confront Arjuna and Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral and strategic reality of war: when a principal protector falls, the community faces a leadership vacuum, and the burden of responsibility shifts to whoever can uphold duty and steadiness under crisis.
After Karṇa’s death, the narrator frames the next turn of battle by asking who will now take the vanguard position for the Kauravas and which chariot-warrior dares to advance to meet the formidable pair—Arjuna with Kṛṣṇa as his charioteer.