Shloka 16
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
क़ुद्धस्य नरसिंहस्य संग्रामेष्वपलायिन: । ये व्यमुज्चन्त कर्णस्य प्रमादात् त इमे हता:
kruddhasya narasiṁhasya saṅgrāmeṣv apalāyinaḥ | ye vyamuñcanta karṇasya pramādāt te ime hatāḥ ||
Wika ni Sūta: “Si Karna, kapag nag-aalab sa poot, ay parang leon sa gitna ng mga tao, at hindi kailanman tumatalikod sa labanan. Yaong mga minsang nakaligtas sa kamay ng kakila-kilabot na taong-leon—dahil sa sarili nilang kawalang-ingat—ay napatay na ngayon dito.”
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights pramāda (heedlessness) as ethically ruinous: even those who once survived a mighty warrior can be destroyed when vigilance and right conduct lapse. In the Mahābhārata’s war-ethic, negligence becomes a direct cause of downfall.
Sūta describes Karna as a fearsome, non-retreating ‘lion among men’ and remarks that those who had earlier escaped from Karna’s deadly power have now been killed because they became careless—pointing to the tragic turn of events in the aftermath of battle.