Shloka 343
दुर्योधनस्थाधमपूरुषस्य यस्यानयादेष महान् क्षयो5भवत् | “कर्ण! तू ही इस कलहकी जड़ है। दुर्योधनका सहारा मिल जानेसे तेरा घमंड बहुत बढ़ गया है। आज रणक्षेत्रमें मैं हठपूर्वक तेरा वध करूँगा और जिसके अन्यायसे यह महान् संहार हुआ है
sañjaya uvāca | duryodhana-sthādhama-puruṣasya yasyānayād eṣa mahān kṣayo 'bhavat | “karṇa! tvaṃ hi asya kalahasyā jadaḥ asi. duryodhanasya sahāyaṃ labdhvā tava garvaḥ bahu vardhitaḥ. adya raṇa-kṣetre 'haṃ haṭha-pūrvakaṃ tava vadhaṃ kariṣyāmi, yasya anyāyena ayaṃ mahān saṃhāraḥ jātaḥ, taṃ narādhamaṃ duryodhanaṃ yuddhe bhīmasenaḥ haniṣyati.”
Sañjaya said: “Karna, you are the very root of this strife. Having gained Duryodhana’s support, your arrogance has greatly increased. Today, on the battlefield, I will stubbornly bring about your death. And Duryodhana—that vilest of men—by whose injustice this vast slaughter has come to pass, will be slain in war by Bhīmasena.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames catastrophic war as the fruit of adharma: pride fed by wrongful alliances and injustice becomes a causal chain leading to mass destruction, and moral responsibility is explicitly assigned to those who instigate and sustain unrighteous conflict.
A warrior’s vow is reported: Karna is accused of being the chief instigator of the feud and is threatened with death on the battlefield; Duryodhana, blamed for injustice that caused the slaughter, is foretold to be slain by Bhīmasena.