Shloka 36
कर्ण वैकर्तनं चैव सहपुत्रममर्षणम् । केकयांश्व महेष्वासांस्त्रिगर्ताश्न महारथान्,राजा दुर्योधन, उनके निन्यानबे महारथी भाई, राजा शल्य, शल, भूरिश्रवा, राजा जयद्रथ, अभिमन्यु, दुःशासन-पुत्र लक्ष्मण, राजा धृष्टकेतु, बृहन्त, सोमदत्त, सौसे भी अधिक सूंजयवीर, राजा क्षेमधन्वा, विराट द्रपद, शिखण्डी, पांचालदेशीय द्रुपदपुत्र धृष्टद्युम्न, युधामन्यु, पराक्रमी उत्तमौजा, कोसलराज बृहद्वल, द्रौपदीके पाँचों पुत्र, सुबलपुत्र शकुनि, अचल, वृषक, राजा भगदत्त, पुत्रोंसहित अमर्षशील वैकर्तन कर्ण, महाधनुर्धर पाँचों केकयराजकुमार, महारथी त्रिगर्त, राक्षसराज घटोत्कच, बकके भाई राक्षसप्रवर अलम्बुष और राजा जलसंध--इनका तथा अन्य बहुतेरे सहस्रों भूपालोंका घीकी धारासे प्रज्वलित हुई अग्नियोंद्वारा उन लोगोंने दाह-कर्म कराया
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
karṇaṁ vaikarṭanaṁ caiva saha-putram amarṣaṇam |
kekayāṁś ca maheṣvāsāṁs trigartāṁś ca mahā-rathān |
… eteṣāṁ tathānyānāṁ bahūnāṁ sahasraśo bhūpālānāṁ ghṛta-dhārā-pradīptābhir agnibhir dāha-karma cakruḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: They performed the funeral rites—cremation by fires kindled with streams of ghee—for Karṇa Vaikartana together with his sons, for the mighty bowmen of Kekaya, for the great chariot-warriors of Trigarta, and likewise for many other kings in their thousands. The passage underscores the grim aftermath of war: even the most renowned heroes are reduced to names in a list of the dead, and the living are bound by dharma to complete the last rites with due honor, despite enmity and the immeasurable cost of violence.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid hatred and devastation, dharma requires honoring the dead through proper last rites. The verse highlights the ethical duty of the survivors: to complete funeral obligations and acknowledge the shared human end of all warriors, however great.
After the war, the survivors arrange cremations. Fires are kindled with ghee, and the bodies of renowned fighters—named in the surrounding passage, including Karṇa and many allied warriors—are consigned to the flames as part of the prescribed funeral rites.