Shloka 243
कर्णभीमसमागमः | Karṇa–Bhīma Encounter
तव बाहुबलाद राजन् कि नु कृष्णो बलाधिक: । “राजन! आपके बाहुबलको सामने पाकर सम्पूर्ण सात्वतवंशी क्षत्रिय कभी युद्धमें टिक न सके हैं। क्या आपके बाहुबलसे श्रीकृष्णका बल अधिक है?
tava bāhubalād rājan ki nu kṛṣṇo balādhikaḥ |
Sañjaya said: “O King, compared with the might of your own arms, how could Kṛṣṇa be stronger? When your strength stands before them, even the entire Sātvata line of warriors has never been able to hold its ground in battle. Is Kṛṣṇa’s power truly greater than yours?”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how assessments of strength can be shaped by pride and reputation: physical prowess (bāhubala) is treated as decisive, yet the very question about Kṛṣṇa hints that power may include strategy, divine support, and moral force beyond mere bodily might.
Sañjaya addresses the king and frames a rhetorical comparison: since the king’s martial strength has overawed even the Sātvata warriors, he questions whether Kṛṣṇa could truly be stronger—setting up tension between human valor and Kṛṣṇa’s exceptional (often supra-human) capability.