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Chapter 8. Karna
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Mahabharata, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Dharma
Pursuing Enlightenment
Heroism and Warfare
Grief, Loss, and Mourning
Stories and Storytelling
Summary
Analysis
After Karna’s death, Duryodhana appoints Salya as the next commander, but soon after, Yudhishthira kills him. Not long after, Bhima slays Duryodhana. Some surviving Kauravas surprise the Pandavas at night, and there are heavy casualties. By the end, seven Pandavas survive (the five brothers plus Satyaki and Krishna) and three Kauravas survive (Kripa, Kritarvarma and Aśvatthaman). Dhritarashtra is devastated by this report and asks Samjaya to tell him the whole story.
With the death of Duryodhana, the war ends, but as this passage hints, the war isn’t a complete triumph for the Pandavas, with only a handful of survivors left on each side. Despite how glorious the fighting has been throughout the war, the ultimate outcome is death and destruction. Aśvatthaman’s night raid further disrupts the narrative of a glorious war, providing an example of a sneaky, successful attack that differs significantly from the honorable battlefield heroics in the previous books.
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Samjaya starts narrating again. Some of Duryodhana’s allies believe it is dharma for him to keep fighting, while others believe the only rational option is to surrender to the Pandavas. Aśvatthaman recommends Salya as a replacement for Karna. Salya leads the Kauravas into battle on the 18th day, but the Pandavas force them to retreat.
Now that Samjaya has already revealed the ending of the battle to Dhritarashtra, a doomed air of inevitability hangs over his narration of the events. Without the suspense of what happens next, the story becomes more about how each combatant decides to accept their fate.
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After regrouping, the Kauravas attack again, and this time Salya kills many Pandavas, angering Yudhishthira. He vows that either he’ll kill Salya on the battlefield or vice versa. The two of them do battle against each other, sending arrows flying back and forth. Meanwhile, Bhima fights Duryodhana.
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Salya manages to pierce Yudhishthira with an arrow, but despite his serious injury, Yudhishthira fires back. Salya presses his attack, killing Yudhishthira’s horses, so Bhima intervenes, firing enough arrows to make Salya almost faint and lose his armor. Salya comes down from his chariot to fight with his sword, but Bhima cuts his sword off at the hilt with an arrow.
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Yudhishthira now focuses again on killing Salya. He throws a special spear originally designed for Śiva, and it pierces Salya’s vital organs. The earth itself seems to rise up to greet Salya as he falls, and he dies bleeding on the ground. The death of Salya frightens many of the Kauravas, who flee the battlefield. Duryodhana fights alone, even as he sees the rest of his army retreating. All the Pandavas praise Yudhishthira.
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DURYODHANA ENTERS THE LAKE. The surviving Kauravas debate strategy as the Pandavas keep destroying them. Bhima slays 21,000 followers of Duryodhana with just a club. Still, some Kauravas manage to continue killing Pandava warriors. Bhima then slays what remains of Dhritarashtra’s sons (aside from Duryodhana). Sahadeva manages to decapitate Śakuni. Seeing no allies around, Duryodhana goes to a nearby lake to reflect on how Vidura’s predictions of a grievous loss came true. Eventually, the last surviving Kauravas (Aśvatthaman, Kritarvarma, Kripa, and Sanjaya) meet up with Duryodhana, then they all head back to camp.
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THE PILGRIMAGE. Balarama, the older brother of Krishna, wanders the world on a pilgrimage visiting many sacred bathing places. He stayed neutral during the war, due to connections to both sides, but he comes to the field of battle to witness the battle between Bhima and Duryodhana.
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THE DUEL WITH CLUBS. As Bhima and Duryodhana prepare to fight, Balarama proposes a duel with clubs. The two men fight each other violently, with Duryodhana knocking Bhima down, though Bhima gets right back up. From the sidelines, Arjuna asks Krishna who’s stronger, and Krishna says that while they’re similarly powerful, Bhima is stronger, though Duryodhana is more practiced. Krishna concludes that Bhima will only win if he abandons dharma and uses trickery, which he should, since gods often use deceit to kill demons.
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Krishna advises Arjuna that Bhima should strike Duryodhana’s thigh, as he promised to do long ago during the gambling competition. Arjuna slaps his own thigh, and Bhima understands the signal. Bhima and Duryodhana both maneuver around each other to try to gain an advantage. Each gets weary, and due to blood loss, Bhima comes close to passing out. But Bhima stays on his feet, and suddenly he brings his club down like a thunderbolt on Duryodhana’s thighs.
Duryodhana falls, and the whole earth trembles. Bhima puts his foot on Duryodhana’s head and says that this is all punishment for how he treated Draupadi like a slave after the gambling competition. Yudhishthira scolds Bhima, telling him not to disrespect Duryodhana by trampling him. Balarama too curses Bhima for his actions. He says that Bhima should not have breached dharma as Krishna advised him.
Afterwards, the Pandavas go to Duryodhana’s deserted camp. Krishna has to leave for important business in Hastinapura. There, he sees Gandhari and urges her not to be angry about the death of her sons, and she understands, agreeing the Kauravas brought the tragedy on themselves. Meanwhile, Duryodhana says that Aśvatthaman should be the new commander of the few remaining Kauravas.
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