Shloka 19
कर्णसेनापत्यारम्भः — Karṇa’s Appointment and the Report to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
Chapter 1
स श्रुत्वा निहतं कर्ण दुर्योधनहितैषिणम् । कथं द्विजवर प्राणानधारयत दु:ःखित:,द्विजश्रेष्ठ) फिर दुर्योधनके हितैषी कर्णके मारे जानेका समाचार सुनकर अत्यन्त दुःखी हो उन्होंने अपने प्राण कैसे धारण किये?
sa śrutvā nihataṃ karṇaṃ duryodhana-hitaiṣiṇam | kathaṃ dvijavara prāṇān adhārayata duḥkhitaḥ ||
Джанамеджая сказал: «О лучший из дваждырождённых, услышав, что Карна — неизменно радеющий о благе Дурьодханы — убит, как он, сокрушённый горем, смог ещё удержать в себе жизнь?»
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the moral-psychological weight of loyalty: when a person’s identity is bound to another’s cause (here, Karṇa as “Duryodhana-hitaiṣiṇ”), the fall of that ally becomes an existential shock. It invites reflection on devotion, attachment, and how grief tests one’s inner steadiness.
In the Janamejaya–Vaiśampāyana dialogue frame, Janamejaya asks the sage how the concerned person—struck by sorrow after hearing that Karṇa, Duryodhana’s staunch supporter, has been killed—managed to keep living. The question sets up the ensuing account of reactions and events following Karṇa’s death.