Shloka 145
उत्कृत्य कर्णो ह्ददात् कवचं कुण्डले तथा । शक्ति शक्रो ददौ तस्मै विस्मितश्नलेदमब्रवीत्,कर्णने अपने शरीरमें चिपके हुए कवच और कुण्डलोंको उधेड़कर दे दिया। इन्द्रने विस्मित होकर कर्णको एक शक्ति प्रदान की और कहा--दुर्धर्ष वीर! तुम देवता, असुर, मनुष्य, गन्धर्व, नाग और राक्षसोंमेंसे जिसपर भी इस शक्तिको चलाओगे, वह एक व्यक्ति निश्चय ही अपने प्राणोंसे हाथ धो बैठेगा”
utkṛtya karṇo hṛdād kavacaṁ kuṇḍale tathā | śaktiṁ śakro dadau tasmai vismitaś cābravīd idam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Karṇa tore from his own body the natural armor and the earrings that were fixed to him and gave them away. Astonished, Indra granted him a divine weapon—the śakti—and said: “O unconquerable hero! Whomever among gods, asuras, humans, gandharvas, nāgas, or rākṣasas you hurl this śakti at, that single person will surely lose his life.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical complexity of dāna: Karṇa’s willingness to give even what sustains his own safety is portrayed as extraordinary virtue, yet the ‘reward’ becomes a lethal instrument. It suggests that virtue can be exploited and that gifts and boons carry karmic and practical consequences, especially in a world moving toward war.
Karṇa removes and donates his innate armor and earrings. Indra, amazed, grants him a śakti weapon and declares its fatal certainty: when hurled, it will kill the chosen target—whether divine or non-human—emphasizing the weapon’s singular, decisive power.