Shloka 9
Aśvatthāman’s Arrow-Screen and the Confrontation with Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रौणि–युधिष्ठिर-संग्रामः)
तमहं जातु नास्येयमन्यस्मिन् फाल्गुनादूते । कृष्णाद् वा देवकीपुत्रात् सत्यं चापि शृणुष्व मे,इस बाणको मैं अर्जुन अथवा देवकीपुत्र श्रीकृष्णकोी छोड़कर दूसरे किसीपर कभी नहीं छोड़ूँगा। मेरी सच्ची बातको तुम कान खोलकर सुन लो
tam ahaṁ jātu nāsyeyam anyasmin phālgunād ūte | kṛṣṇād vā devakīputrāt satyaṁ cāpi śṛṇuṣva me ||
Karna sprach: „Niemals werde ich diesen Pfeil auf irgendwen anders abschießen als auf Phālguna (Arjuna) oder auf Kṛṣṇa, den Sohn der Devakī. Höre von mir diese Wahrheit.“
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a warrior’s self-binding vow: Karna insists on truthfully limiting the use of a particular arrow to only the highest-value targets (Arjuna or Kṛṣṇa). It underscores how personal codes and spoken truth function as moral constraints even amid total war.
In the Karṇa Parva battle context, Karna declares to his listener that he will not discharge a specific arrow at anyone else—only at Arjuna or Kṛṣṇa—signaling his strategic focus and his determination to confront the principal opponents directly.