Shloka 58
स चित्रवर्मेषुवरो विदार्य प्राणान्निरस्यन्निव साधुमुक्त: । कर्णस्य पीत्वा रुधिरं विवेश वसुन्धरां शोणितदिग्धवाज:,भलीभाँति छूटे हुए उस उत्तम नाराचने कर्णके विचित्र कवचको चीर-फाड़कर उसके प्राण निकालते हुए-से रक्तपान किया, फिर वह धरतीमें समा गया। उस समय उसके पंख खूनसे लथपथ हो रहे थे
sa citravarmeṣuvaro vidārya prāṇānnirasyann iva sādhumuktaḥ | karṇasya pītvā rudhiraṃ viveśa vasundharāṃ śoṇitadigdhavājaḥ ||
संजय म्हणाला—सुयोग्य रीतीने सोडलेला तो श्रेष्ठ नाराच कर्णाचे विचित्र कवच फाडून जणू त्याचे प्राणच उपटून नेई। कर्णाचे रक्त पिऊन, रक्ताने माखलेल्या पंखांसह तो बाण पृथ्वीमध्ये विलीन झाला।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the stark ethic of the battlefield: skill and valour operate within an inexorable economy of death. Even a mighty warrior’s splendour (armour, fame) cannot ultimately shield him from mortality; war consumes pride and life alike, reminding the listener of impermanence and the severe cost of adharma-driven conflict.
Sañjaya describes a powerful arrow (nārāca) striking Karṇa: it rips through his ornate armour as if tearing out his life, drinks his blood, and then disappears into the earth, its feathers smeared with gore—an image of a perfectly loosed missile completing its lethal course.