Shloka 22
अपतिह्ठ[सि कृष्णेति सूतपुत्रो यदब्रवीत् धृतराष्ट्रमते कर्ण: श्लाघमान: स्वकान् गुणान्,'सूतपुत्र कर्णने धृतराष्ट्रके मतमें होकर अपने गुणोंकी प्रशंसा करते हुए जो द्रौपदीसे यह कहा था कि “कृष्णे! तू पतिहीन है” उसके इस कथनको मेरे तीखे बाण असत्य कर दिखायेंगे और क्रोधमें भरे हुए विषधर सर्पोके समान उसके रक्तका पान करेंगे
apatihīṭhāsi kṛṣṇeti sūtaputro yad abravīt dhṛtarāṣṭramate karṇaḥ ślāghamānaḥ svakān guṇān | tasya tad vacanaṃ me tīkṣṇāḥ śarā asatyaṃ kariṣyanti krodhapūrṇā viṣadharā iva sarpāḥ tasya raktapānaṃ kariṣyanti ||
Sañjaya said: “When Karṇa, the son of a charioteer—aligned with Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s party—boasted of his own qualities and once spoke to Draupadī, ‘O Kṛṣṇā, you are without a husband,’ my sharp arrows will prove that utterance false. Like venomous serpents swollen with wrath, they will drink his blood.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of speech: a humiliating insult (especially toward Draupadī) is treated as a grave moral offense whose consequences return in the form of violent retribution. It frames battlefield action as a means to ‘refute’ adharma enacted through words.
Sañjaya reports a warrior’s vow-like resolve against Karṇa. Recalling Karṇa’s earlier taunt to Draupadī—calling her ‘husbandless’—the speaker declares that his arrows will prove that claim false by striking Karṇa down, using the metaphor of wrathful venomous serpents drinking blood.