Mahabharata 7.184.21 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 184, Shloka 21
श्वः सर्वसैन्यान्युत्सूज्य जहि कर्ण धनंजयम् । प्रेष्यवत् पाण्डुपज्चालानुपभोक्ष्यामहे तत:
śvaḥ sarvasainyāny utsṛjya jahi karṇa dhanañjayam | preṣyavat pāṇḍupañcālān upabhokṣyāmahe tataḥ ||
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—രാജാവേ! ഞങ്ങൾ കർണനോട് ആവർത്തിച്ച് പറയുന്നത് ഇതാണ്—“കർണാ! നാളെ മറ്റു സൈന്യകാര്യങ്ങൾ എല്ലാം വിട്ട് ധനഞ്ജയനെ (അർജുനനെ) വധിക്ക. പിന്നെ പാണ്ഡവരെയും പാഞ്ചാലരെയും ദാസന്മാരെപ്പോലെ ആക്കി, ഇഷ്ടാനുസരണം ആധിപത്യം അനുഭവിക്കാം.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse exposes the ethical collapse that accompanies unchecked ambition: victory is imagined not as restoration of order but as the right to reduce others to servitude. It highlights how adharma expresses itself through dehumanizing language and the instrumental use of violence for domination.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana, Śakuni, Duḥśāsana—and even Sañjaya—repeatedly urged Karṇa to ignore other battlefield concerns and focus on killing Arjuna the next day, believing Arjuna’s death would allow them to subjugate the Pāṇḍavas and Pañcālas.
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