Shloka 19
देवसत्रे मृत्युनिरोधः, पूर्वेन्द्राणां मानुषावतरणम्, द्रौपदी-वरकथनम्
Suspension of Death at the Devasatra; Former Indras’ Human Descent; Draupadī’s Boon Etiology
न हि मामाहवे क्रुद्धमन्य: साक्षाच्छचीपते: । पुमान् योधयितु शक्त: पाण्डवाद् वा किरीटिन:
na hi mām āhave kruddham anyaḥ sākṣāc chacīpateḥ | pumān yodhayituṃ śaktaḥ pāṇḍavād vā kirīṭinaḥ ||
Karna sprach: „Wenn ich im Kampf in Zorn gerate, vermag kein anderer Mann mir standzuhalten—außer Indra selbst, dem Herrn der Śacī, oder Arjuna, dem Pāṇḍava mit dem Diadem.“
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior ethos where honor is tied to facing an equal or superior opponent; it also cautions how pride and anger in war can narrow one’s moral vision to rivalry and self-assertion.
Karna is speaking with martial confidence, declaring that when he is wrathful in combat, only Indra himself or Arjuna—the famed diadem-wearing Pāṇḍava—has the strength to confront him.