Shloka 23
भीष्मपातने कर्णविलापः | Karṇa’s Lament upon Seeing Bhīṣma Fallen
तस्माच्चैव वर प्राप्तो दुष्प्रपमकृतात्मभि: । को<न्य: शक्तो रणे जेतुं पूर्व यो न जितस्त्वया,“आपके सिवा दूसरा कौन राजा अर्जुनसे युद्ध कर सकता है? मनीषी पुरुष जिनके दिव्य कर्मोंका बखान करते हैं, जो मानवेतर प्राणियों--असुरों तथा दैत्योंसे भी संग्राम कर चुके हैं, त्रिनेत्रधारी महात्मा भगवान् शंकरके साथ भी जिन्होंने युद्ध किया है और उनसे वह उत्तम वर प्राप्त किया है, जो अजितेन्द्रिय पुरुषोंके लिये सर्वथा दुर्लभ है, जिन्हें पहले आप भी जीत नहीं सके हैं, उन्हें आज दूसरा कौन युद्धमें जीत सकता है?
tasmāc caiva varaḥ prāpto duṣprāpaḥ kṛtātmabhiḥ | ko 'nyaḥ śakto raṇe jetuṃ pūrvaṃ yo na jitastvayā ||
Sañjaya said: “And moreover, he has obtained that boon—so hard to attain for those lacking self-mastery. Who else is capable of defeating him in battle—him whom even you were unable to conquer before?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links martial success with inner discipline: certain divine attainments (boons) are inaccessible to the ungoverned mind and senses, and such spiritual-ethical strength becomes a decisive factor even in warfare.
Sañjaya emphasizes Arjuna’s exceptional status by noting that he possesses a rare boon and was not defeated even earlier by the addressed warrior; thus Sañjaya rhetorically asks who else could possibly conquer Arjuna in battle.