Shloka 45

अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa

Devanagari script

यः सूतपुत्र: प्रहसन्‌ दुरात्मा पुराब्रवीन्निर्जितां सौबलेन । स्वयं प्रसह्यानय याज्ञसेनी- मपीह कच्चित्‌ स हतस्त्वयाद्य,जिस दुरात्मा सूतपुत्र कर्णने हँसते-हँसते पहले दुःशासनसे यह बात कही थी कि 'सुबलपुत्रके द्वारा जीती हुई ट्रुपदकुमारीको तुम स्वयं जाकर बलपूर्वक यहाँ ले आओ, क्‍या तुमने आज उसे मार डाला?

Transliteration

yaḥ sūtaputraḥ prahasan durātmā purābravīn nirjitāṃ saubalena | svayaṃ prasahyānaya yājñasenīm apīha kaccit sa hatas tvayādya ||

Translation

युधिष्ठिर उवाच—यः सूतपुत्रः कर्णो दुरात्मा प्रहसन् पुरा दुर्योधनस्याग्रेऽब्रवीत्—‘सौबलेन जिता द्रुपदकन्या याज्ञसेनी; त्वमेव गत्वा बलात् इह आनय’ इति—स कच्चिदद्य त्वया हतः?

Word by Word

• {'yaḥ': 'who', 'sūtaputraḥ': 'son of a sūta (charioteer

• here, Karṇa)', 'prahāsan (prahāsan)': 'laughing, mocking', 'durātmā': 'evil-minded, wicked', 'purā': 'formerly, earlier', 'abravīt': 'said, spoke', 'nirjitām': 'won, conquered (as a prize)', 'saubalena': 'by the son of Subala (Śakuni)

• instrumental', 'svayam': 'yourself', 'prasahya': 'by force, forcibly', 'ānaya': 'bring (imperative)', 'yājñasenīm': 'Yājñasenī (Draupadī), daughter of Drupada', 'api iha': 'indeed here / even now', 'kaccit': 'whether (introducing an anxious question)', 'saḥ': 'he', 'hataḥ': 'slain, killed', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'adya': 'today'}

Speaker

युधिषछ्िर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Karṇa
• Duryodhana
• Duḥśāsana
• Śakuni (Saubala)
• Draupadī (Yājñasenī)
• Drupada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames moral accountability in war: Yudhiṣṭhira recalls Karṇa’s earlier mocking complicity in Draupadī’s attempted abduction/violation of dignity, and asks whether that agent of adharma has now met his end—suggesting that grave ethical transgressions invite inevitable consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Kurukṣetra war (Karna Parva), Yudhiṣṭhira questions a warrior (contextually, a Pandava ally) about whether Karṇa has been killed. He identifies Karṇa by recalling his past taunt—ordering Duḥśāsana to forcibly bring Draupadī, whom Śakuni had ‘won’—linking present battlefield outcomes to earlier courtly wrongdoing.