Shloka 16
वासवो वा कुबेरो वा वरुणो वा जलेश्वर: । यमो वा नोत्सहेत् कर्ण रणे प्रतिसमासितुम्,उस अवस्थामें इन्द्र, कुबेर, जलेश्वर वरुण अथवा यमराज भी रणभूमिमें कर्णका सामना नहीं कर सकते थे
vāsavo vā kuberaḥ vā varuṇo vā jaleśvaraḥ | yamo vā notsahet karṇa raṇe pratisamāsitum |
Vāyu said: “In that condition, neither Indra (Vāsava), nor Kubera, nor Varuṇa—the lord of the waters—nor even Yama would have had the courage to confront Karṇa face to face on the battlefield.”
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse conveys that true valor can command reverence even from divine powers, but it also hints at the moral complexity of war: greatness in arms does not automatically resolve the ethical weight of the conflict in which that power is used.
Vāyu is describing Karṇa’s formidable state in battle, asserting that even major gods—Indra, Kubera, Varuṇa, and Yama—would not dare to confront him directly at that moment.