तस्मिंस् तु तुमुले शब्दे प्रवृत्ते लोमहर्षणे ॥
अभ्यभाषत पुत्रांस् ते राजन् दुर्योधनस् त्वरन् ॥
राज्ञश् च राजपुत्रांश् च सोदर्यांश् च विशेषतः ॥
कर्णं गच्छत भद्रं वः परीप्सन्तो वृकोदरात् ॥
पुरा निघ्नन्ति राधेयं भीमचापच्युताः शराः ॥
ते यतध्वं महेष्वासाः सूतपुत्रस्य रक्षणे ॥
tasmiṃs tu tumule śabde pravṛtte lomaharṣaṇe ||
abhyabhāṣata putrāṃs te rājan duryodhanas tvaran ||
rājñaś ca rājaputrāṃś ca sodaryāṃś ca viśeṣataḥ ||
karṇaṃ gacchata bhadraṃ vaḥ parīpsanto vṛkodarāt ||
purā nighnanti rādheyaṃ bhīmacāpacyutāḥ śarāḥ ||
te yatadhvaṃ maheṣvāsāḥ sūtaputrasya rakṣaṇe ||
In that same tumultuous, hair-raising din that had arisen, Duryodhana, O king, hastening, addressed your sons — the kings and princes, and above all his own full brothers: 'Go to Karna, for your own good, and guard him from Vrikodara, before the arrows flying from Bhima's bow strike down Radheya; strive, you great archers, to guard the charioteer's son.'
4c07ac45ba8e · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:25:13 PM UTC
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Duryodhana again sends his brothers to shield Karna — saving his one support, he squanders those closest to him. It is telling that his concern falls not on his own dying sons but on Karna, in whom his hope resides: attachment to one thing eclipses the worth of many. The verse teaches that a leader clinging to his single prop is willing to pay for it in any blood; and a command given from fear of losing it sends one man after another into the fire.