Shloka 36
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
किमाश्चर्य कृतप्रज्ञ: पुरुषोडपि सुदारुण: । सुमहत् प्राप्तुयात् पुण्यं बलाको5न्धवधादिव
kim āścaryaṁ kṛtaprajñaḥ puruṣo 'pi sudāruṇaḥ | sumahat prāpnuyāt puṇyaṁ balāko 'ndhavadhād iva ||
Śrī Kṛṣṇa bersabda: “Apa yang menghairankan tentang hal ini? Bahkan seorang lelaki yang berketetapan teguh, walaupun amat kejam, boleh memperoleh pahala yang sangat besar—sebagaimana Balāka memperoleh kebajikan melalui pembunuhan terhadap yang buta.”
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kṛṣṇa emphasizes that merit (puṇya) can arise from an act aligned with a larger dharmic necessity, even if the doer is personally harsh or morally flawed; character alone does not mechanically determine the ethical fruit of every deed.
In the Karṇa Parva dialogue, Kṛṣṇa responds to a doubt or astonishment about how someone severe or cruel could gain merit, and he supports his point with an illustrative precedent: Balāka gaining great puṇya through the killing of a blind person.