संजय उवाच
संग्रामाद् विनिवृत्तानां सर्वेषां नो विशां पते ॥
रात्रौ कुरुकुलश्रेष्ठ मन्त्रो ऽयं समजायत ॥
प्रभातमात्रे श्वोभूते केशवायार्जुनाय वा ॥
शक्तिर् एषा विमोक्तव्या कर्ण कर्णेति नित्यशः ॥
ततः प्रभातसमये राजन् कर्णस्य दैवतैः ॥
अन्येषां चैव योधानां सा बुद्धिर् नश्यते पुनः ॥
दैवम् एव परं मन्ये यत् कर्णो हस्तसंस्थया ॥
न जघान रणे पार्थं कृष्णं वा देवकीसुतम् ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
saṃgrāmād vinivṛttānāṃ sarveṣāṃ no viśāṃ pate ||
rātrau kurukulaśreṣṭha mantro 'yaṃ samajāyata ||
prabhātamātre śvobhūte keśavāyārjunāya vā ||
śaktir eṣā vimoktavyā karṇa karṇeti nityaśaḥ ||
tataḥ prabhātasamaye rājan karṇasya daivataiḥ ||
anyeṣāṃ caiva yodhānāṃ sā buddhir naśyate punaḥ ||
daivam eva paraṃ manye yat karṇo hastasaṃsthayā ||
na jaghāna raṇe pārthaṃ kṛṣṇaṃ vā devakīsutam ||
"For all of us who had returned from battle, O lord of peoples, at night, O best of the Kuru line, such counsel would arise: 'At very dawn, on the morrow, this spear must be loosed at Keshava or at Arjuna, O Karna, Karna' -- tirelessly. Then at the hour of dawn, O king, in Karna -- by the gods -- and in the other warriors too, that resolve perished every time. I hold fate alone supreme: for Karna, [holding the dart] in hand, did not slay Partha in battle, nor Krishna, son of Devaki."
140246a29f44 · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:11 PM UTC
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The resolve, firm by night, dies at dawn "in Karna -- by the gods": the higher will erases human decisions in the hour of their execution. It is telling that Sanjaya traces it all back to fate as the highest cause. The verse teaches that man proposes but another disposes: the firmest resolutions of the night dissolve by day when fate stands against them; and where mortal designs run counter to the will from above, they melt away like the morning mist.