Shloka 54

Devanagari script

कर्ण उवाच नैतादृशो जातु बभूव लोके रथोत्तमो यावदुपश्रुतं न: । तमीदृशं प्रतियोत्स्यामि पार्थ महाहवे पश्य च पौरुषं मे,कर्ण बोला--शल्य! मैंने जहाँतक सुना है, वहाँतक संसारमें ऐसा श्रेष्ठ महारथी वीर कभी नहीं उत्पन्न हुआ, ऐसे कुन्तीकुमार अर्जुनके साथ मैं महासमरमें युद्ध करूँगा, मेरा पुरुषार्थ देखो

Transliteration

karṇa uvāca naitādṛśo jātu babhūva loke rathottamo yāvad upaśrutaṃ naḥ | tam īdṛśaṃ pratiyotsyāmi pārtha mahāhave paśya ca pauruṣaṃ me ||

Translation

কর্ণ বলল—শল্য! যতদূর আমরা শুনেছি, এইরূপ শ্রেষ্ঠ রথী বীর পৃথিবীতে কখনও জন্মায়নি। তবু এমন পার্থ অর্জুনের সঙ্গেই আমি মহাযুদ্ধে প্রতিযুদ্ধ করব—আমার পৌরুষ দেখো।

Word by Word

• {'naitādṛśaḥ': 'not such as this

• none like this', 'jātu': 'ever

• at any time', 'babhūva': 'has been

• came to be', 'loke': 'in the world', 'rathottamaḥ': 'the best among chariot-warriors

• supreme ratha-warrior', 'yāvat': 'as far as

• to the extent that', 'upaśrutam': 'heard

• learned by report/tradition', 'naḥ': 'by us

• to us', 'tam': 'him

• that one', 'īdṛśam': 'such

• of that kind', 'pratiyotsyāmi': 'I will fight against

• I will engage in combat with', 'pārtha': 'O Partha

• Arjuna (son of Pṛthā/Kuntī)', 'mahāhave': 'in the great battle', 'paśya': 'see

• behold', 'ca': 'and', 'pauruṣam': 'manly effort

• prowess', 'me': 'my'}

Speaker

कर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Karna
• Shalya
• Arjuna
• Partha
• Kunti

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal of meeting even the greatest opponent without retreat, grounding one’s identity in courage and effort (pauruṣa). Ethically, it shows how honor and resolve can coexist with pride—Karna acknowledges Arjuna’s unmatched stature yet insists on proving himself through action.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Karṇa Parva, Karna speaks to his charioteer Śalya. He declares that, by all accounts, no warrior like Arjuna has arisen, but he will still confront him in the decisive battle and urges Śalya to witness his prowess.