Shloka 68

Devanagari script

सहसतनेत्रप्रतिमानकर्मण: सहस्रपत्रप्रतिमाननं शुभम्‌ | सहसरश्मिर्दिनसंक्षये यथा तथापतत्‌ कर्णशिरो वसुंधराम्‌

Transliteration

sahasranetra-pratimāna-karmaṇaḥ sahasra-patra-pratimānanaṃ śubham | sahasra-raśmir dina-saṃkṣaye yathā tathāpatat karṇa-śiro vasuṃdharām ||

Translation

Sañjaya nói: Cái đầu cao quý của Karṇa—người có công nghiệp sánh với Indra nghìn mắt, và dung nhan như đóa sen nghìn cánh—đã rơi xuống mặt đất, như vầng nhật luân nghìn tia lặn khi ngày tàn. Hình ảnh ấy khép lại một đời hùng liệt giữa chiến trường: vinh quang và quyền lực đều vô thường, và ngay cả chiến sĩ vĩ đại nhất cũng không thoát khỏi luật cuối cùng chi phối mọi hữu thân.

Word by Word

• सहस्रतनेत्रप्रतिमानकर्मणः: of (him) whose deeds are comparable to the thousand-eyed (Indra)
• सहस्रतनेत्रप्रतिमानकर्मणः: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सहस्र-नेत्र-प्रतिमान-कर्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• सहस्रपत्रप्रतिमाननम्: the head/face comparable to a thousand-petalled (lotus)
• सहस्रपत्रप्रतिमाननम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र-पत्र-प्रतिमान-नन (नन/ननम् as head/face)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• शुभम्: auspicious, beautiful
• शुभम्: Visheshana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• सहस्ररश्मिः: the thousand-rayed (sun)
• सहस्ररश्मिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र-रश्मि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दिनसंक्षये: at the end of the day
• दिनसंक्षये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिन-संक्षय
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• यथा: as, just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• तथा: so, in the same way
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा

• अपतत्: fell
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (पतति)
• Form: Imperfect (Lan), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कर्णशिरः: Karna’s head
• कर्णशिरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्ण-शिरस्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• वसुंधराम्: to the earth/ground
• वसुंधराम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वसुंधरा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Karṇa
• Indra
• Sūrya (the Sun)
• Vasundharā (Earth)
• Sahasra-dala-kamala (thousand-petalled lotus, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores impermanence: even a warrior likened to Indra in prowess and to a lotus in beauty must fall. Martial glory is real yet fleeting, and the moral world of the epic reminds the listener that embodied power ends under the same universal law.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports the climactic moment of Karṇa’s death: his head falls to the ground. The fall is poetically framed through two similes—Indra (for heroic deeds) and the setting sun (for the inevitable close of a great life).