Mahabharata 7.149.68 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 149, Shloka 68
अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa
हाहाकारस्ततो राजन् सर्वसैन्येष्वभून्महान् । कर्णोडपि विरथो राजन् सात्वतेन कृत: शरै:
hāhākāras tato rājan sarvasainyeṣv abhūn mahān | karṇo 'pi viratho rājan sātvatena kṛtaḥ śaraiḥ ||
پھر، اے راجن، تمام لشکروں میں بڑا ہاہاکار مچ گیا۔ اے راجن، ساتوت ساتیکی نے اپنے تیروں سے کرن کو بھی رتھ سے محروم کر دیا۔
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how swiftly fortune shifts in war: even a famed champion like Karṇa can be reduced to vulnerability. Ethically, it underscores the fragility of power and the sobering cost of violence—panic spreads through entire armies when a major warrior is brought low.
Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that a great uproar erupts across the battlefield because Karṇa has been struck so effectively by a Sātvata warrior that he becomes viratha—deprived of his chariot—signaling a dramatic moment in the combat.
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