Shloka 16
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
क़ुद्धस्य नरसिंहस्य संग्रामेष्वपलायिन: । ये व्यमुज्चन्त कर्णस्य प्रमादात् त इमे हता:,'क्रोधमें भरा हुआ कर्ण मनुष्योंमें सिंहंके समान था। कर्णि और नालीक नामक बाण उसकी दाँढ़ें तथा युद्धमें उठी हुई तलवार उसकी जिह्ला थी। धनुषका खींचना ही उसका मुँह फैलाना था। प्रत्यंचाकी टंकार ही उसके लिये दहाड़नेके समान थी। युद्धोंमें कभी पीठ न दिखानेवाले उस भयंकर पुरुषसिंहके हाथसे जो जीवित छूट गये, वे ही ये मेरे सगे-सम्बन्धी अपनी असावधानीके कारण मार डाले गये हैं
kruddhasya narasiṁhasya saṅgrāmeṣv apalāyinaḥ | ye vyamuñcanta karṇasya pramādāt te ime hatāḥ ||
Disse Sūta: “Karna, quando inflamado de ira, era como um leão entre os homens, e nunca virava as costas na batalha. Aqueles que outrora escaparam vivos das mãos desse terrível homem-leão—por sua própria imprudência—agora foram mortos aqui.”
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights pramāda (heedlessness) as ethically ruinous: even those who once survived a mighty warrior can be destroyed when vigilance and right conduct lapse. In the Mahābhārata’s war-ethic, negligence becomes a direct cause of downfall.
Sūta describes Karna as a fearsome, non-retreating ‘lion among men’ and remarks that those who had earlier escaped from Karna’s deadly power have now been killed because they became careless—pointing to the tragic turn of events in the aftermath of battle.