Shloka 20
कर्णसेनापत्यारम्भः — Karṇa’s Appointment and the Report to Dhṛtarāṣṭra
Chapter 1
यस्मिज्जयाशां पुत्राणां सममन्यत पार्थिव: । तस्मिन् हते स कौरव्य: कथं प्राणानधारयत्,कुरुवंशी राजाने जिसके ऊपर अपने पुत्रोंकी विजयकी आशा बाँध रखी थी, उसके मारे जानेपर उन्होंने कैसे प्राण धारण किये?
yasmin jayāśāṃ putrāṇāṃ samamanyata pārthivaḥ | tasmin hate sa kauravyaḥ kathaṃ prāṇān adhārayat |
Wika ni Janamejaya: “Yamang taong iyon ang pinagtalunan ng hari ng lahat ng pag-asa sa tagumpay ng kaniyang mga anak; nang siya’y mapatay, paano pa nakapagpatuloy sa buhay ang prinsipe ng Kuru (si Duryodhana)?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the fragility of worldly reliance: when a ruler’s hopes are fastened to a single champion, the champion’s fall can shatter morale and purpose, exposing how attachment to victory and power intensifies suffering.
Janamejaya asks the narrator how Duryodhana could endure living after the death of the warrior on whom the king had pinned his expectation of his sons’ victory—an inquiry that sets up the emotional and strategic crisis following that hero’s fall.