Shloka 183
कर्णस्य सेनापत्याभिषेकः | Karṇa’s Consecration as Commander-in-Chief
कैकेयेन च विक्रम्य भ्रात्रा भ्राता निपातित: । केकयदेशीय योद्धाओंसे घिरे हुए भीमके समान पराक्रमी केकयराजकुमारको उन्हींके भाई दूसरे केकयराजकुमारने बलपूर्वक मार गिराया
kaikeyena ca vikramya bhrātrā bhrātā nipātitaḥ |
ಕೈಕೇಯನು ಪರಾಕ್ರಮಿಸಿ ತನ್ನ ಸಹೋದರನನ್ನೇ ನೆಲಕ್ಕುರುಳಿಸಿದನು. ಕೇಕಯ ಯೋಧರಿಂದ ಸುತ್ತುವರಿದಿದ್ದರೂ ಭೀಮಸಮಾನ ಪರಾಕ್ರಮ ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದ ಆ ಕೈಕೇಯ ರಾಜಕುಮಾರನು ತನ್ನದೇ ಸಹೋದರನ ಬಲದಿಂದ ನಿಹತನಾದನು।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical collapse that war can bring: even the natural dharma of protecting one’s own kin is overturned, and fraternal bonds are sacrificed to factional loyalty and battlefield fury.
Sañjaya reports a battlefield incident in which a Kaikeya prince, renowned for valor, is forcibly struck down by his own brother—an image of internecine violence amid the wider Kurukṣetra war.