प्रतिहत्य तु तां मायां दिव्येनास्त्रेण राक्षसीम् ॥
आजघान हयान् अस्य शरैः संनतपर्वभिः ॥
ते भग्ना विकृताङ्गाश् च छिन्नपृष्ठाश् च सायकैः ॥
वसुधाम् अन्वपद्यन्त पश्यतस् तस्य रक्षसः ॥
स भग्नमायो हैडिम्बः कर्णं वैकर्तनं ततः ॥
एष ते विदधे मृत्युम् इत्य् उक्त्वान्तरधीयत ॥
pratihatya tu tāṃ māyāṃ divyenāstreṇa rākṣasīm ||
ājaghāna hayān asya śaraiḥ saṃnataparvabhiḥ ||
te bhagnā vikṛtāṅgāś ca chinnapṛṣṭhāś ca sāyakaiḥ ||
vasudhām anvapadyanta paśyatas tasya rakṣasaḥ ||
sa bhagnamāyo haiḍimbaḥ karṇaṃ vaikartanaṃ tataḥ ||
eṣa te vidadhe mṛtyum ity uktvāntaradhīyata ||
With many terrible weapons raised, sprinkled with blood, Karna pierced each of them with swift arrows. Having repelled that rakshasa magic with divine weaponry, he struck his horses with smooth-jointed arrows. They, broken, with mangled bodies and backs cut open by arrows, fell to the ground before the eyes of that rakshasa. He, his magic broken, the son of Hidimba, then said to Karna Vaikartana: 'Here, I prepare death for you' — so saying, he vanished.
440799bee208 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:49:34 PM UTC
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The chapter closes with what Ghatotkacha had threatened: his magic broken, his horses fallen, and vanishing he throws out, "I prepare death for you." It is significant that this threat comes true only by half — Ghatotkacha will fall, but he will force Karna to spend Indra's dart, and thereby save Arjuna. The verse teaches that even defeat can serve a higher purpose: one's sacrifice turns aside the fatal blow meant for another; and the words of the doomed about their enemy's death come true not as imagined, but as ordained from above.