Mahabharata 7.136.166 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 136, Shloka 166
Chapter 136: Pandava Counter-Encirclement and the Vāyavya-Astra Disruption
त॑ रथेन नरश्रेष्ठं सम्पादय महारथम् । राजन! नरश्रेष्ठ कर्णको युद्धस्थलमें रथहीन खड़ा देख दुर्योधनने अपने भाई दुर्मुखसे कहा--*दुर्मुख! यह राधानन्दन कर्ण भीमसेनके द्वारा रथसे वंचित कर दिया गया है। इस महारथी नरश्रेष्ठ वीरको रथसे सम्पन्न करो”
taṁ rathena naraśreṣṭhaṁ sampādaya mahāratham | rājan! naraśreṣṭhaṁ karṇakaṁ yuddhasthale rathahīnaṁ khaḍā dṛṣṭvā duryodhanena svabhrātṛ durmukhāya uktam— “durmukha! eṣa rādhānandanaḥ karṇo bhīmasenena rathād vañcitaḥ | imaṁ mahārathiṁ naraśreṣṭhaṁ vīraṁ rathena sampādaya” ||
سنجے نے کہا—“اس نر-شریشٹھ مہارتھی کو رتھ مہیا کرو۔” اے راجن! میدانِ جنگ میں کرن کو—جو مردوں میں برتر تھا—رتھ کے بغیر کھڑا دیکھ کر دُریودھن نے اپنے بھائی دُرمُکھ سے کہا—“دُرمُکھ! یہ رادھا نندن کرن بھیماسین کے ہاتھوں رتھ سے محروم ہو گیا ہے۔ اس دلیر مہارتھی کو رتھ سے آراستہ کرو۔”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid destructive war, a ruler’s duty includes sustaining allies and maintaining the fighting order; Duryodhana’s command highlights loyalty and logistical responsibility, while also raising ethical questions about prolonging violence by restoring a disabled combatant.
Karna has been deprived of his chariot by Bhima and is left standing on the battlefield. Duryodhana, seeing this, instructs his brother Durmukha to procure a chariot for Karna so he can rejoin the fight as a mahāratha.
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