Shloka 33
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
धृतराष्ट्र रवाच योडजयत् सर्वकाम्बोजानम्बष्ठान् केकयैः सह । गान्धारांश्व विदेहांश्व॒ जित्वा कार्यार्थमाहवे
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca—yo ’jayat sarva-kāmbojān ambaṣṭhān kekayaiḥ saha | gāndhārāṃś ca videhāṃś ca jitvā kāryārtham āhave ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra berkata: “Wahai Sañjaya, dia yang demi urusan pihak kita telah menakluk di medan perang seluruh kaum Kāmboja, kaum Ambaṣṭha bersama Kekaya, serta kaum Gāndhāra dan Videha—menundukkan mereka untuk kepentingan kita dalam peperangan—bagaimanakah Karṇa yang perkasa itu, yang dahulu menjadi alat peluasan kuasa Duryodhana, kini ditewaskan di gelanggang perang oleh para wira Pāṇḍava?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly power gained through conquest for a partisan ‘cause’ (kāryārtham) is unstable; even the most celebrated warrior can be brought down when circumstances, strategy, and the moral weight of the conflict turn against him. The verse highlights the fragility of pride in victory and the shock that follows reversal.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of events in the war, recalls Karṇa’s earlier victories over various peoples allied or opposed in the wider political landscape. He questions Sañjaya in disbelief: how could such a conqueror, once central to Duryodhana’s rise, be defeated by the Pāṇḍavas in the present battle.