12.005
Pancharatra-Ext: Narada concludes, summarizing the reasons why Karna was defeated by Arjuna.
Nārada said:
But when the king of Magadha, Jarāsandha, saw Karṇa's strength revealed, he invited him to a duel in battle.
An equal battle arose between those two masters of divine weapons, each showering various weapons upon the other in the fight.
Both, with their arrows spent, bows broken, and swords shattered, having fallen to the ground, even then, endowed with strength, would have fought each other with their arms.
Then, in the battle of arm-thorns, Karṇa, while fighting, broke the joint of his body, which had been weakened by old age.
O Bhārata, the king, having seen the change in his own body, became pleased and, abandoning enmity, said to Karṇa, "I am pleased."
Out of affection, he gave the city of Mālinī to Karṇa; then, in Aṅga, that tiger among men became king, victorious over his rivals.
Karṇa, the destroyer of enemy forces, protected Campā, but it is known that he did so with the consent of Duryodhana and also with your approval.
Thus, by his martial prowess, he became famous on earth; for your sake, Indra, the lord of gods, begged him for the armor and earrings.
He, in his divine and natural form, gave the supremely worshipped earrings and the natural armor, being deluded by divine illusion.
Freed from his earrings and natural armor, he was slain by Arjuna in battle as Krishna looked on.
Because of the Brāhmaṇa's curse and the great-souled Rāma, and due to Kuntī's boon and the illusion of Śatakratu (Indra),
Due to the disrespect shown to Bhishma, the partial reporting of the number of chariots, Shalya's actions, the loss of energy, and also by the strategy of Vasudeva.
Of Rudra, the king of gods, Yama, Varuṇa, Kubera, Droṇa, and also of Kṛpa, the great-souled one.
In the battle, Karṇa, the son of Vikartana, radiant like the sun, was slain by Arjuna, the wielder of the Gāṇḍīva bow, after taking up divine weapons.
Thus, your brother, having been cursed and deceived by many, is not to be mourned; for that tiger among men has met his end in battle.
