Shloka 1
अध्याय २१ — गान्धार्या वैकर्तनदर्शनम्
Gāndhārī’s Viewing of Vaikartana/Karṇa
अत---#क+ एकविशोड< ध्याय: गान्धारीके द्वारा कर्णको देखकर उसके शौर्य तथा उसकी स्त्रीके विलापका श्रीकृष्णके सम्मुख वर्णन गान्धायुवाच एष वैकर्तन: शेते महेष्वासो महारथ: । ज्वलितानलवत् संख्ये संशान्त: पार्थतेजसा,वह बेचारी कर्णकी पत्नी पृथ्वीपर गिरकर उठी और उठकर पुनः गिर पड़ी। कर्णका मुख सूँघती हुई यह नारी अपने पुत्रके वधसे संतप्त हो फ़ूट-फ़ूटकर रो रही है ।। इति श्रीमहा भारते स्त्रीपर्वणि स्त्रीविलापपर्वणि कर्णदर्शनो नामैकविंशो5ध्याय: ।। २१३१ ॥। इस प्रकार श्रीमहाभारत स्त्रीपर्वके अन्तर्गत स्रीविलापपर्वमें कर्णका दर्शनविषयक इक्कीसवाँ अध्याय प्रा हुआ ॥/ २९ ॥। अपन का छा | अर द्ाविशोद्ध्याय: अपनी-अपनी स्त्रियोंसे घिरे हुए अवन्ती-नरेश और जयद्रथको देखकर तथा दुःशलापर दृष्टिपात करके गान्धारीका श्रीकृष्णके सम्मुख विलाप गान्धायुवाच आवन्त्यं भीमसेनेन भक्षयन्ति निपातितम् । गृध्रगोमायव: शूरं बहुबन्धुमबन्धुवत्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | eṣa vaikartanaḥ śete maheṣvāso mahārathaḥ | jvalitānalavat saṅkhye saṃśāntaḥ pārthatejasā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Here lies Vaikartana (Karna), a great archer and a foremost chariot-warrior. In the press of battle he blazed like a flaming fire, yet now he has been stilled—his ardor quenched by the splendor and might of Pārtha (Arjuna).” The verse frames Karna’s fall not merely as a military outcome but as a moral spectacle: heroic power, however radiant, is rendered transient by the larger forces of fate, duty, and the terrible cost of war that the women now mourn.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the fragility of worldly power: even the most radiant hero, blazing in battle, is ultimately brought to stillness. In the Strīparvan context, this becomes an ethical meditation on the human cost of war and the inevitability of loss that follows adharma-driven conflict.
Vaiśampāyana points out Karna’s body on the battlefield, describing him as a supreme archer and great warrior who once shone like fire in combat, but who has now been slain—overpowered by Arjuna’s might. This observation feeds into the women’s lamentations that dominate the Strīparvan.