Shloka 21
जयद्रथविमोचन–पलायनवृत्तान्तः
Recovery of Draupadī and Jayadratha’s flight
नग्नजित्प्रमुखांश्नैव गणान् जित्वा महारथान्,इस प्रकार पुरुषसिंह महारथी कर्ण नग्नजित् आदि महारथी नरेशसमुदायोंको जीतकर सारी पृथ्वीको पराजित करके अपने वशमें कर लेनेके पश्चात् हस्तिनापुरको लौट आया
Vaiśampāyana uvāca: Nagnajit-pramukhān eva gaṇān jitvā mahārathān, evaṃ puruṣa-siṃho mahārathī Karṇaḥ Nagnajit-ādīn mahārathī nṛpa-samudāyān jitvā sarvāṃ pṛthivīṃ parājitya sva-vaśaṃ kṛtvā tataḥ Hastināpuraṃ pratyāgacchat.
Vaiśampāyana said: Having conquered the great chariot-warriors led by Nagnajit, Karṇa—lion among men and foremost of warriors—defeated those assemblies of kings such as Nagnajit, subdued the whole earth, brought it under his control, and then returned to Hastināpura. The passage highlights the political ethic of conquest and consolidation: victory is presented not merely as personal prowess but as the expansion of dominion, raising implicit questions about the righteous limits of power and the costs of imperial ambition.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ideal of kṣatriya prowess and imperial consolidation—victory over rival kings and the bringing of territory under one’s control—while implicitly inviting reflection on dharmic restraint: political success and domination are not automatically identical with righteousness, and the epic often probes the moral cost of conquest.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Karṇa defeats Nagnajit and other great warriors and kings, subdues the wider realm (‘the earth’ as a figure for many kingdoms), and then returns to the Kuru capital, Hastināpura, after completing this campaign.