अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
स हि पारो महानासीत् पुत्राणां मम संजय । युद्धमें सूतपुत्र कर्णके मारे जानेपर मैं अपने पक्षके किसी भी वीरको ऐसा नहीं देखता
sa hi pāro mahān āsīt putrāṇāṁ mama sañjaya | yuddhe me sūtaputraḥ karṇe māre jāne ’paraṁ mama pakṣasya kañcid vīraṁ na paśyāmi yo jīvituṁ śaknoti | sañjaya! karṇa eva mama putrāṇāṁ pāram uttārayitā mahān avalamba āsīt |
Дхритараштра сказал: «О Санджая! Он и вправду был великой переправой для моих сыновей. Теперь, когда Карна, сын возничего, пал в битве, я не вижу на своей стороне ни одного героя, кто мог бы уцелеть. Санджая, один лишь Карна был могучей опорой, способной перевезти моих сыновей через эту опасность».
धृतराष्ट उवाच
The verse highlights the fragility of power built on a single pillar: when a faction relies on one extraordinary warrior as its ‘support’ and ‘ferry across danger,’ the fall of that person exposes the moral and strategic emptiness beneath. It also reflects how attachment and partiality cloud judgment—Dhṛtarāṣṭra measures survival and hope chiefly through martial strength rather than through dharma.
After Karṇa is killed in the Kurukṣetra war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra laments to Sañjaya that Karṇa had been the chief mainstay for saving his sons. With Karṇa gone, he foresees no remaining warrior on the Kaurava side capable of enduring the conflict.