Karna Parva Adhyaya 87 Shloka 98 - Mahabharata | Chinese | Vedapath

Vyasa

Shloka 98

Devanagari script

कर्णके ध्वजपर जो हाथीकी साँकल थी, वह कालपाशके समान जान पड़ती थी। वह लोहनिर्मित हाथीकी साँकल छोटी-छोटी घण्टियोंसे विभूषित थी। उसने अत्यन्त कुपित होकर उस वानरपर धावा किया ।।

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

karṇake dhvajapara yā hastikī sāṅkal thī sā kālapāśa-samān jān paṛtī thī | sā loha-nirmita hastikī sāṅkal choṭī-choṭī ghaṇṭiyoṃ-se vibhūṣit thī | usne atyanta kupit hokar us vānara-par dhāvā kiyā ||

tayor ghoritare yuddhe dvairathe dyūta āhite | prakurvāte dhvajau yuddhaṃ pūrvaṃ pūrva-taraṃ tadā ||

Translation

三阇耶说道：迦尔那的旗上悬着一条铁链，如象链一般，宛若死神之索，缀满细小铃铛。它在盛怒中扑向那神猴。而在那更为可怖的车战对决里——仿佛掷骰之局已然发动——两人的军旗竟先行开战，似乎预先迎接即将到来的厮杀。

Word by Word

तयोःof those two

घोरितरेin the more terrible

युद्धेbattle

द्वेरथेin the chariot-duel (between two chariots)

द्यृतेin the game of dice / stake-contest

आहितेhaving been set/placed; when set

प्रकुर्वातेthey two perform / they two set in motion

ध्वजौthe two banners/standards

युद्धम्battle

पूर्वम्first; beforehand

पूर्वतरम्even earlier; earlier still

तदाthen

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sanjaya

Karna

Hanuman (as the monkey on Arjuna’s banner, implied by vānara)

Karna’s banner (dhvaja)

Iron elephant-chain with bells (sāṅkalā with ghaṇṭikāḥ)

Noose of Death/Time (kālapāśa)

Chariot-duel (dvairatha yuddha)

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?

The passage uses vivid symbolism to frame battle as a fateful, death-shadowed contest: the ‘noose of Death’ imagery and the dice-game metaphor suggest that once violent rivalry is set in motion, it quickly escalates beyond ordinary control, demanding vigilance about the ethical weight and consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya describes an ominous prelude to the Karna–Arjuna chariot duel: Karna’s banner-ornament (an iron elephant-chain with bells) seems to lunge at the monkey (Hanuman) on Arjuna’s standard, and the two standards are portrayed as beginning the fight even before the warriors fully engage.