Shloka 21
कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter
तं कथं पाण्डवा युद्धे विजेष्यन्ति महारथम्,यो हन्यात् समरे क्रुद्धो वजहस्तं पुरंदरम् | “जो कुपित होनेपर वज्रधारी इन्द्रको भी समरभूमिमें मार डालनेकी शक्ति रखता है, उस महारथी वीर कर्णको पाण्डवलोग युद्धमें कैसे जीत लेंगे?
taṃ kathaṃ pāṇḍavā yuddhe vijeṣyanti mahāratham, yo hanyāt samare kruddho vajrahastaṃ puraṃdaram |
Sañjaya said: How will the Pāṇḍavas conquer in battle that great chariot-warrior—Karna—who, when enraged in combat, would have the power to strike down even Indra himself, the wielder of the thunderbolt and the slayer of fortresses? The statement heightens Karna’s feared prowess and frames the war as a contest where confidence and moral resolve are tested against overwhelming martial might.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how war magnifies perceptions of strength: rhetorical comparisons to gods express the psychological weight of a formidable warrior. It invites reflection on how morale, fear, and reputation shape ethical resolve and strategic judgment amid dharmic conflict.
Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield situation, emphasizes Karna’s terrifying capability by saying he could, in anger, slay even Indra. He then questions how the Pāṇḍavas could possibly defeat such a mahāratha, heightening tension in the Karṇa Parva war narrative.