Shloka 38
अर्जुनकर्णसंनिपातवर्णनम् / The Convergence of Arjuna and Karṇa
योडसौ कृष्णामब्रवीद् दुष्टबुद्धि: कर्ण: सभायां कुरुवीरमध्ये । कि पाण्डवांस्त्वं न जहासि कृष्णे सुदुर्बलान् पतितान् हीनसत्त्वान्
yo 'sau kṛṣṇām abravīd duṣṭabuddhiḥ karṇaḥ sabhāyāṃ kuruvīramadhye | kiṃ pāṇḍavāṃs tvaṃ na jahāsi kṛṣṇe sudurbalān patitān hīnasattvān ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “That Karṇa of wicked intent—who, in the royal assembly amid the Kuru heroes, spoke those words to Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)—why did you not then laugh at the Pāṇḍavas, O Kṛṣṇe, as weak, fallen, and devoid of true spirit?”
युधिषछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of speech and public humiliation: cruel words spoken in a royal assembly become lasting moral injuries. It also shows how shame and remembered insults can fuel righteous anger and the demand for accountability in dharma-based kingship.
Yudhiṣṭhira recalls Karṇa’s harsh words to Draupadī in the Kuru court and, addressing Draupadī as “Kṛṣṇe,” asks why she did not mock the Pāṇḍavas then as weak and fallen—an anguished reflection on their past disgrace and the taunts endured before the war.