Shloka 19
कर्णवधप्रसङ्गः / The Context of Karṇa’s Fall
Krishna’s Dharmic Recollection and the Decisive Astra
समेत्याहं सपुत्रेण संख्ये वृत्रेण वज्रीव नरेन््द्रमुख्य । योत्स्याम्यहं भारत सूतपुत्र- मस्मिन् संग्रामे यदि वै दृश्यतेडद्य
sametyāhaṁ saputreṇa saṅkhye vṛtreṇa vajrīv narendramukhya | yotsyāmy ahaṁ bhārata sūtaputram asmin saṅgrāme yadi vai dṛśyate ’dya ||
Arjuna said: “O foremost of kings! If today, in this battle, I catch sight of Karṇa—the charioteer’s son—then I shall close with him on the field and fight him as Indra, wielder of the thunderbolt, fought Vṛtra. My resolve is to meet him directly and contend without retreat, for the war’s justice now turns upon confronting the chief warrior among the enemy’s chariot-fighters.”
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames kṣatriya duty as direct, courageous engagement with the principal threat, using the Indra–Vṛtra myth as an ethical model of decisive action against a formidable adversary.
Arjuna declares that if Karṇa appears on the battlefield that day, he will seek him out and fight him face-to-face, likening the coming duel to Indra’s climactic battle with Vṛtra.