Shloka 32

Karna Reproves Shalya; Brahmin Reports on Bāhlīkas; Shalya’s Universalizing Rebuttal (कर्ण–शल्य संवादः)

Devanagari script

त्वया पापानि घोराणि समाचीर्णानि पाण्डुषु । त्वत्कृते वर्तते घोर: पार्थिवानां जनक्षय:,आपने पाण्डवोंपर भयंकर अत्याचार किये हैं। आपके ही कारण राजाओंद्वारा यह घोर नरसंहार हो रहा है

Transliteration

tvayā pāpāni ghorāṇi samācīrṇāni pāṇḍuṣu | tvatkṛte vartate ghoraḥ pārthivānāṃ janakṣayaḥ ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：“你对般度五子犯下了可怖的罪业。正因你之故，如今诸王与其民众的惨烈覆灭正在展开。”

Word by Word

त्वयाby you

पापानिsins, evil deeds

घोराणिterrible, dreadful

समाचीर्णानिcommitted, practiced

पाण्डुषुamong/against the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)

त्वत्कृतेbecause of you, on your account

वर्ततेis happening, proceeds

घोरःterrible

पार्थिवानाम्of kings

जनक्षयःdestruction of people, massacre

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Pāṇḍavas

pārthivāḥ (kings/rulers)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Adharma is not private: grave wrongdoing against the righteous (here, the Pāṇḍavas) ripens into collective catastrophe. The verse stresses moral accountability—one person’s choices can become the cause (tvatkṛte) of widespread destruction (janakṣaya).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the war to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, directly attributes the ongoing horrific slaughter of kings to Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s earlier sins and complicity in injustices done to the Pāṇḍavas, framing the battlefield losses as the consequence of those acts.