Shloka 81
कालो हादृश्यो नृप विप्रकोपा- न्लिदर्शयन् कर्णवधं ब्रुवाण: । भूमिस्तु चक्र ग्रसतीत्यवोचत्- कर्णस्य तस्मिन् वधकाल आगते
kālo hādṛśyo nṛpa viprakopān nidarśayan karṇavadhaṃ bruvāṇaḥ | bhūmistu cakraṃ grasatītyavocat karṇasya tasmin vadhakāla āgate ||
سنجے نے کہا—اے بادشاہ! نظر نہ آنے والا کال، گویا برہمن کے غضب سے مقدر کیے گئے کرن کے وध کی نشان دہی کرتا ہوا، جب کرن کے قتل کا وقت آ پہنچا تو یوں بولا—“اب زمین تمہارے رتھ کے پہیے کو نگلنا چاہتی ہے۔”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Karṇa’s end as the convergence of Time (kāla) and the moral force of a brāhmaṇa’s wrath/curse: actions and their consequences ripen inevitably, and even great warriors are subject to fate shaped by ethical causality.
Sañjaya narrates that at the very moment destined for Karṇa’s death, an unseen ‘Time’ announces the fatal sign: the earth will seize (swallow) Karṇa’s chariot wheel—an omen and practical impediment that leaves him vulnerable in battle.