Shloka 42
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४० (कृष्णेन कर्णं प्रति पाण्डवबल-वैशिष्ट्यप्रदर्शनम्) / Udyoga Parva, Chapter 140
Krishna’s appraisal of Pandava advantage and war portents
गाण्डीवधारी अर्जुनके छोड़े हुए तथा द्रोणाचार्य, अश्वत्थामा एवं अन्य महारथियोंके चलाये हुए बाण यज्ञकुण्डके सब ओर बिछाये जानेवाले कुशोंका काम देंगे ।। प्रतिप्रास्थानिकं कर्म सात्यकिस्तु करिष्यति । दीक्षितों धार्तराष्ट्रोडत्र पत्नी चास्य महाचमू:,सात्यकि प्रतिस्थाता (अध्वर्युके दूसरे सहयोगी)-का कार्य करेंगे। धृतराष्ट्रपुत्र दुर्योधन इस रणयज्ञकी दीक्षा लेगा और उसकी विशाल सेना ही यजमानपत्नीका काम करेगी
gāṇḍīvadhārī arjunake choṛe hue tathā droṇācārya, aśvatthāmā evaṃ anya mahārathiyoṃ ke calāye hue bāṇa yajñakuṇḍ ke sab ora bichāye jāne vāle kuśoṃ kā kāma deṅge || pratiprāsthānikaṃ karma sātyakis tu kariṣyati | dīkṣito dhārtarāṣṭro 'tra patnī cāsya mahācamūḥ |
迦尔纳宣告道：“阿周那——执甘狄婆者——所放之箭，以及德罗纳、阿湿婆他曼与诸大车战士所射之箭，将充作祭坛四周铺陈的库沙草。萨提亚基将担任‘副祭官’（pratiprasthātṛ）之职。在这场‘战斗之祭’中，持国之子一系的王子（难敌）将受灌顶为祭主，而他那浩大军旅，便代作祭主之妻。”
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how powerful rhetoric can ritualize and thereby morally sanitize violence: by calling war a ‘sacrifice’, Karna frames killing as sacred duty. The ethical tension lies in this inversion—dharma-language is used to legitimize adharma-like outcomes, urging the listener to examine intention, justice, and consequence rather than mere ceremonial framing.
Karna is describing the coming battle in the idiom of a Vedic sacrifice. Arrows become the ritual kuśa spread around the altar; Sātyaki is assigned a priestly role; Duryodhana is portrayed as the consecrated sacrificer; and the Kaurava army is cast as the sacrificer’s wife—an elaborate metaphor that presents the battlefield as a yajña.