Shloka 26
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
पूजितो धृतराष्ट्रेण सपुत्रेण महाबल: । त्वदर्थमेव राधेय: स कथं निहतस्त्वया,जो सम्पूर्ण युद्धकी कलामें कुशल, विख्यात महारथी, धनुर्धरोंमें श्रेष्ठ तथा सब शत्रुओंमें प्रधान पुरुष था, जिसे पुत्रसहित धृतराष्ट्रने तुम्हारा सामना करनेके लिये ही सम्मानपूर्वक रखा था, वह महाबली राधापुत्र कर्ण तुम्हारे द्वारा कैसे मारा गया?
pūjito dhṛtarāṣṭreṇa saputreṇa mahābalaḥ | tvadartham eva rādheyaḥ sa kathaṃ nihatas tvayā ||
Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Ang makapangyarihang si Rādheya (Karṇa) ay pinarangalan ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra kasama ang kanyang mga anak, iningatan at sinuportahan para sa iyo lamang—upang harapin ka. Paano mo siya napatay?”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral and psychological weight of war: even a righteous side must reckon with the fall of a celebrated hero. It points to the tension between personal valor and the larger forces of alliance, duty, and destiny that decide outcomes.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Arjuna, expressing astonishment that Karna—publicly honored and maintained by Dhṛtarāṣṭra and the Kauravas specifically to oppose Arjuna—has nevertheless been killed by Arjuna, and he asks how this occurred.