Shloka 86
काकोपमोपदेशः
The Crow-and-Swan Exemplum as Counsel to Karṇa
युधिष्ठिरस्याभिमुखं प्रेषयामास संयुगे । राजा दुर्योधनसे इस प्रकार प्रेरित होकर सारथिने उस उत्तम रथको राजा युधिष्ठिरके सामने बढ़ाया
yudhiṣṭhirasyābhimukhaṃ preṣayāmāsa saṃyuge | rājā duryodhanas tasya prakāraṃ prerito 'tha sārathinā tam uttamaṃ rathaṃ rājñaḥ yudhiṣṭhirasya sammukhaṃ vardhayāmāsa |
Sañjaya said: In the thick of battle, King Duryodhana directed that the chariot be driven straight toward Yudhiṣṭhira. Thus urged in that manner, he had his charioteer advance the excellent car to face Yudhiṣṭhira—an act that signals deliberate confrontation and the hardening of resolve amid the moral strain of war.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how decisive leadership in war can intensify direct confrontation; it implicitly raises the ethical tension between kṣatriya resolve and the moral cost of escalating violence.
Duryodhana orders his charioteer to drive the chariot straight toward Yudhiṣṭhira, setting up a face-to-face engagement in the ongoing battle.