Shloka 183

कर्णस्य सेनापत्याभिषेकः | Karṇa’s Consecration as Commander-in-Chief

Devanagari script

कैकेयेन च विक्रम्य भ्रात्रा भ्राता निपातित: । केकयदेशीय योद्धाओंसे घिरे हुए भीमके समान पराक्रमी केकयराजकुमारको उन्हींके भाई दूसरे केकयराजकुमारने बलपूर्वक मार गिराया

Transliteration

kaikeyena ca vikramya bhrātrā bhrātā nipātitaḥ |

Translation

ਕੈਕેય ਨੇ ਪਰਾਕ੍ਰਮ ਕਰ ਕੇ ਆਪਣੇ ਹੀ ਭਰਾ ਨੂੰ ਡਾਹ ਦਿੱਤਾ। ਕੇਕਯ ਯੋਧਿਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਘਿਰਿਆ ਹੋਇਆ ਵੀ ਭੀਮ ਸਮਾਨ ਪਰਾਕ੍ਰਮੀ ਉਹ ਕੈਕેય ਰਾਜਕੁਮਾਰ ਆਪਣੇ ਹੀ ਭਰਾ ਦੇ ਬਲ ਨਾਲ ਨਿਪਾਤਿਤ ਹੋਇਆ।

Word by Word

• कैकेयेन: by the Kaikeya (prince/warrior)
• कैकेयेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कैकेय
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• विक्रम्य: having advanced/stridden forth; having attacked
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-क्रम्
• Form: Lyap (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral here)

• भ्रात्रा: by (his) brother
• भ्रात्रा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• भ्राता: (his) brother
• भ्राता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• निपातितः: was struck down / felled
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-√पत्
• Form: Past passive participle (kta), Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Passive

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Kaikeya (a Kaikeya prince/warrior)
• Brother (fraternal pair among Kaikeyas)
• Bhīma (as a simile in the given context)
• Kekaya/Kaikeya people (implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical collapse that war can bring: even the natural dharma of protecting one’s own kin is overturned, and fraternal bonds are sacrificed to factional loyalty and battlefield fury.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a battlefield incident in which a Kaikeya prince, renowned for valor, is forcibly struck down by his own brother—an image of internecine violence amid the wider Kurukṣetra war.