Shloka 37
अद्यापुत्रा सूतमाता भवित्री कुन्ती वाथो वा मया तेन वापि । सत्यं वदाम्यद्य न कर्णमाजौ शरैरहत्वा कवचं विमोक्ष्ये,“आज मेरेद्वारा सूतपुत्रकी माता पुत्रहीन हो जायगी अथवा मेरी माता कुन्ती ही कर्णके द्वारा मुझ एक पुत्रसे हीन हो जायगी। मैं सत्य कहता हूँ, आज युद्धस्थलमें अपने बाणोंद्वारा कर्णको मारे बिना मैं कवच नहीं उतारूँगा
adyāputrā sūtamātā bhavitrī kuntī vātho vā mayā tena vāpi | satyaṃ vadāmyadya na karṇamājau śarairahatvā kavacaṃ vimokṣye ||
Sañjaya said: “Today either the charioteer’s son’s mother will be left without her son, or else my own mother Kuntī will be deprived—through Karṇa—of me, her one remaining son. I speak the truth: today, on the battlefield, I will not cast off my armor until I have struck down Karṇa with my arrows.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) expressed as a binding vow in a dharmic crisis: the speaker accepts the moral weight of inevitable loss and commits to a decisive act in war, framing it as an unavoidable consequence rather than a casual desire for victory.
In the Karṇa-parvan battle setting, a solemn pledge is voiced: either Karṇa will be slain (making his mother bereft), or the speaker will be slain by Karṇa (making Kuntī bereft). The speaker swears not to remove his armor until Karṇa is killed by his arrows, intensifying the imminence of the climactic duel.