Shloka 35
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
जो शौर्यके मदसे उन्मत्त हो कौरवोंकी सभामें सदा बढ-बढ़कर बातें बनाया करता था और दुर्योधनको अत्यन्त प्रिय था, क्या उस पापी कर्णको तुमने आज मार डाला? ।।
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: yaḥ śaurya-madena unmattaḥ Kauravāṇāṁ sabhāyāṁ sadā baḍha-baḍhakar vārtāḥ nirmimīte ca Duryodhanasya atyanta-priyaḥ, kiṁ taṁ pāpinaṁ Karṇaṁ tvam adya jaghānitha? kaccit samāgamya dhanuḥ-prayuktaiḥ tvat-preṣitaiḥ lohitāṅgaiḥ vihagair iva śaraiḥ śete sa pāpaḥ su-vibhinnagātraḥ? kaccid bhagnau Dhārtarāṣṭrasya bāhū?
Wika ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Yaong si Karṇa—lasing sa pagmamataas sa sariling kagitingan—na sa kapulungan ng mga Kaurava ay laging nagyayabang at nagsasalita nang lampas sa sukat, at lubhang minamahal ni Duryodhana: napatay mo na ba ngayong araw ang makasalanang iyon? Nang makipagsagupa siya sa iyo sa digmaan, nakahandusay na ba siya sa lupa, ang mga sangkap ng katawan ay lubusang pira-piraso dahil sa mga palasong pinakawalan mo mula sa iyong busog—mga palasong lumilipad sa himpapawid, mapula na parang dugo, gaya ng mga ibong nasa paglipad? At sa pagbagsak niya, para bang nabali rin ba ang dalawang bisig ni Duryodhana?”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Karṇa’s fall as the moral consequence of arrogance and complicity in adharma: prowess without restraint becomes ‘śaurya-mada,’ and loyalty to an unrighteous cause brings ruin. It also shows how a warrior’s death can be understood ethically—not merely as a tactical event, but as the collapse of a support-pillar of injustice.
Yudhiṣṭhira anxiously questions his ally (contextually, Arjuna) whether Karṇa—Duryodhana’s most valued champion and a notorious boaster in the Kaurava court—has been killed in battle. He vividly imagines Karṇa lying on the ground, limbs shattered by arrows shot from the bow, and adds that Karṇa’s death would be like breaking Duryodhana’s two arms—i.e., destroying his chief strength.