वासुदेव उवाच
अतिहर्षम् इमं प्राप्तं शृणु मे त्वं धनंजय ॥
अतीव मनसः सद्यः प्रसादकरम् उत्तमम् ॥
शक्तिं घटोत्कचेनेमां व्यंसयित्वा महाद्युते ॥
कर्णं निहतम् एवाजौ विद्धि सद्यो धनंजय ॥
शक्तिहस्तं पुनः कर्णं को लोके ऽस्ति पुमान् इह ॥
य एनम् अभितस् तिष्ठेत् कार्त्तिकेयम् इवाहवे ॥
दिष्ट्यापनीतकवचो दिष्ट्यापहृतकुण्डलः ॥
दिष्ट्या च व्यंसिता शक्तिर् अमोघास्य घटोत्कचे ॥
vāsudeva uvāca
atiharṣam imaṃ prāptaṃ śṛṇu me tvaṃ dhanaṃjaya ||
atīva manasaḥ sadyaḥ prasādakaram uttamam ||
śaktiṃ ghaṭotkacenemāṃ vyaṃsayitvā mahādyute ||
karṇaṃ nihatam evājau viddhi sadyo dhanaṃjaya ||
śaktihastaṃ punaḥ karṇaṃ ko loke 'sti pumān iha ||
ya enam abhitas tiṣṭhet kārttikeyam ivāhave ||
diṣṭyāpanītakavaco diṣṭyāpahṛtakuṇḍalaḥ ||
diṣṭyā ca vyaṃsitā śaktir amoghāsya ghaṭotkace ||
"Hear me of this excessive joy that has befallen [me], O Dhananjaya -- at once and exceedingly pacifying, supreme, for the mind. This dart, spent [upon] Ghatotkacha, O greatly radiant one -- Karna [consider] already slain in battle, know at once, O Dhananjaya. Were the dart again in Karna's hand, what man is there in the world who could stand before him, as [before] Karttikeya in battle? By fortune, he is deprived of armor, by fortune, deprived of earrings, and, by fortune, his unfailing dart is spent -- on Ghatotkacha."
23d6b5a77b7a · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:11 PM UTC
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Krishna repeats "by fortune" (diṣṭyā) three times: armor torn away, earrings gone, the dart spent -- three barriers to Karna's death removed. It is significant that Ghatotkacha's death is the last of them. The verse teaches that a great goal is reached by removing obstacles one after another, and a neighbor's sacrifice can become the last necessary link; what seems calamity to the shortsighted is, in the design of the one who foresees, a long-awaited stroke of fortune.