Shloka 18

कर्णपरर्वणि त्रयोचत्वारिंशदध्यायः (Karṇa-parva Adhyāya 43) — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Assessment and the Reversal Around Bhīma

Devanagari script

मन:शिलोज्ज्वलापाड्ग्यो गौर्यस्त्रिककुदाउ्जना:,“जिनके नेत्रोंके प्रान्नभाग मैनसिलके आलेपसे उज्ज्वल हैं, दोनों नेत्र और ललाट अंजनसे सुशोभित हैं तथा जिनके सारे अंग कम्बल और मृगचर्मसे आवृत हैं, वे गोरे रंगवाली प्रियदर्शना (परम सुन्दरी) रमणियाँ मृदंग, ढोल, शंख और मर्दल आदि वाद्योंकी ध्वनिके साथ-साथ कब नृत्य करती दिखायी देंगी

Transliteration

manaḥśilojjvalāpāṅgyo gauryas trikakudāñjanāḥ

Translation

カルナは言った。「いつになれば、あの肌白く愛らしい美女たちを再び見られるのか—眼はマナッシラー（manaḥśilā）の赤い塗香に輝き、眼と額はアンジャナ（黒い眼膏）で飾られ、太鼓や大太鼓、法螺貝、ムリダンガ（mṛdaṅga）の鳴り響く音に合わせて舞い踊る彼女らを。毛布と鹿皮に身を包みながらも、その美と艶はなお隠しようがない。」

Word by Word

मनःशिलोज्ज्वलापाङ्ग्यःwomen whose eye-corners are bright with red-arsenic (manahshila)

गौर्यःfair-complexioned women

त्रिककुदाञ्जनाःwomen adorned with collyrium on the three prominences (both eyes and the forehead)

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

Karna

women (gauryāḥ/priyadarśanāḥ)

manaḥśilā (realgar cosmetic)

añjana (collyrium)

mṛdaṅga

Ḍ

ḍhola

śaṅkha

mardala

blanket (kambala)

deer-skin (mṛgacarma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inner cost of war: even a mighty warrior like Karna is haunted by memories of peaceful, cultured life—beauty, music, and celebration—revealing how conflict severs one from ordinary human joys and intensifies longing for what is lost.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karna Parva context, Karna speaks in a reflective, yearning tone, imagining a return to scenes of festivity where beautiful women dance to instruments. The contrast between battlefield reality and remembered courtly pleasures underscores his emotional state amid the war.