Shloka 50
युधिष्ठिरस्य धनंजय-प्रति गर्हा
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Reproach to Dhanaṃjaya
अभिद्रुत्य तु राधेय: पाण्डुपुत्रं युधिष्ठिरम्
abhidrutya tu rādheyaḥ pāṇḍuputraṃ yudhiṣṭhiram | śubhalakṣaṇasampannena gaurahastena tasya skandhaṃ spṛṣṭvā balād grahītuṃ cikīrṣur iva, ātmānaṃ pavitrayitum iva | tasminn eva kāle kuntīdevyai dattavacanaṃ tasya smṛtim ājagāma ||
Sañjaya said: Karṇa, the son of Rādhā, rushed after Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Pāṇḍu. With his fair hand—marked with auspicious signs such as the thunderbolt, parasol, goad, fish, banner, tortoise, and lotus—he touched Yudhiṣṭhira’s shoulder and seemed intent on seizing him by force, as though to purify himself by that very act. At that moment, however, Karṇa remembered the promise he had given to Queen Kuntī.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even amid the fury of battle, moral restraint can arise from a prior vow: Karṇa’s remembered promise to Kuntī checks an impulse toward a decisive but ethically constrained act, showing how personal commitments and dharma can limit violence.
Karṇa closes in on Yudhiṣṭhira and physically touches his shoulder, appearing ready to seize him; at that critical instant he recalls the word he had given to Kuntī, which alters or restrains his immediate course of action.