कर्णपर्व — अध्याय ४०
Karṇa’s Pressure on the Pāñcālas; Duryodhana Disabled; Arjuna’s Counter-Advance
काको बहूनामभवदुच्छिष्टकृतभोजन: । उसके जो बहुत-से अल्पवयस्क यशस्वी पुत्र थे, उन सबकी जूठन खानेवाला एक कौआ भी वहाँ रहा करता था
kāko bahūnām abhavad ucchiṣṭa-kṛta-bhojanaḥ |
سنجے نے کہا—وہاں ایک کوا بھی رہتا تھا، جو بہتوں کے بچے کھچے (اُچِشٹ) پر گزارا کرتا تھا۔
संजय उवाच
The verse uses the crow living on leftovers as a moral image of degradation and dependence—an ethical reminder that disorder and adharma reduce beings to surviving on what is impure or discarded.
Sañjaya describes a scene where even a crow is present, characterized by its habit of feeding on the remnants left by many—an observational detail that intensifies the atmosphere of ruin and neglect around the events being narrated.