Shloka 456
जानातु मां रणे कृष्ण प्रवरं सर्वधन्विनाम् | “श्रीकृष्ण! अमर्षशील दुर्योधन आज कर्णको रणभूमिमें मारा गया देख मुझे सम्पूर्ण धनुर्धरोंमें श्रेष्ठ ममझ ले
jānātu māṃ raṇe kṛṣṇa pravaraṃ sarva-dhanvinām |
Sañjaya said: “Let Kṛṣṇa know me, on the battlefield, as the foremost among all archers. O Śrī Kṛṣṇa! Today, when the hot-blooded Duryodhana sees Karṇa slain upon the field, let him deem me the best of all who bear the bow.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya impulse toward honor and recognition through skill in war. Ethically, it points to how the pursuit of fame and superiority can dominate the battlefield mindset, often eclipsing reflection on the wider dharmic cost of violence.
In the midst of the Karṇa Parva’s intense fighting, a combatant’s message is framed (through Sañjaya’s narration) as a direct challenge or self-proclamation to Kṛṣṇa: to be acknowledged in battle as the foremost archer.