कर्तास्म्य् एतत् सत्पुरुषार्यकर्म; त्यक्त्वा प्राणान् अनुयास्यामि भीष्मम् ॥
सर्वान् संख्ये शत्रुसंघान् हनिष्ये; हतस् तैर् वा वीरलोकं गमिष्ये ॥
संप्राक्रुष्टे रुदितस्त्रीकुमारे; पराभूते पौरुषे धार्तराष्ट्रे ॥
मया कृत्यम् इति जानामि सूत; तस्माच् छत्रून् धार्तराष्ट्रस्य जेष्ये ॥
कुरून् रक्षन् पाण्डुपुत्राञ् जिघांसंस्; त्यक्त्वा प्राणान् घोररूपे रणे ऽस्मिन् ॥
सर्वान् संख्ये शत्रुसंघान् निहत्य; दास्याम्य् अहं धार्तराष्ट्राय राज्यम् ॥
kartāsmy etat satpuruṣāryakarma; tyaktvā prāṇān anuyāsyāmi bhīṣmam ||
sarvān saṃkhye śatrusaṃghān haniṣye; hatas tair vā vīralokaṃ gamiṣye ||
saṃprākruṣṭe ruditastrīkumāre; parābhūte pauruṣe dhārtarāṣṭre ||
mayā kṛtyam iti jānāmi sūta; tasmāc chatrūn dhārtarāṣṭrasya jeṣye ||
kurūn rakṣan pāṇḍuputrāñ jighāṃsaṃs; tyaktvā prāṇān ghorarūpe raṇe 'smin ||
sarvān saṃkhye śatrusaṃghān nihatya; dāsyāmy ahaṃ dhārtarāṣṭrāya rājyam ||
«I shall accomplish this deed worthy of a righteous and noble man; giving up my life, I shall follow Bhishma. I shall slay all the enemy hosts in battle — or, slain by them, I shall go to the world of heroes. When the cry rings out, when wives and children weep, when the manliness of the sons of Dhritarashtra is disgraced — it falls to me to do what must be done, this I know, O charioteer. Therefore I shall vanquish the enemies of the son of Dhritarashtra. Protecting the Kurus, seeking to slay the sons of Pandu, giving up my life in this fearsome battle, having slain all the enemy hosts in combat, I shall bestow the kingdom upon the son of Dhritarashtra.»
faad09a92fa3 · प्रकाशित 19 जुल॰ 2026, 2:46:26 pm UTC
उपलब्ध भाषाएँRUENश्लोक बदलें इन कुंजियों से
Karna sets his goal not as his own rise but as a gift to a friend — «I shall bestow the kingdom on the son of Dhritarashtra»: his feat is selfless, he is ready to give his life not for himself. In this readiness to «follow Bhishma», to die having done his duty, lies a high nobility of spirit that does not cling to itself. Yet all this generosity is given to an unjust cause: to protect the Kurus and slay the Pandavas is to serve adharma, however pure the motives. The verse teaches that self-sacrifice and loyalty are not by themselves virtue in full measure: their worth is determined by what they serve; and that the greatest sacrifice offered for the triumph of untruth remains a tragedy, not a feat of dharma.