Shloka 68
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
प्रतीपमभिधावद्धिः कि पुनस्तात पापडवै: | संजय! जिसने गाण्डीव धनुषसे छूटे हुए बाणोंके आघातकी तनिक भी परवा न करके 'कृष्णे! अब तू पतिहीना हो गयी' ऐसा कहते हुए कुन्तीपुत्रोंकी ओर देखा था, जिसे अपने बाहुबलके भरोसे कभी दो घड़ीके लिये भी पुत्रोंसहित पाण्डवों और भगवान् श्रीकृष्णसे भी भय नहीं हुआ। तात! यदि शत्रुपक्षकी ओरसे इन्द्रसहित सम्पूर्ण देवता भी धावा करें तो उनके द्वारा भी कर्णके वध होनेका विश्वास मुझे नहीं हो सकता था, फिर पाण्डवोंकी तो बात ही क्या है? || ६५--६७ $ ।। न हि ज्यां संस्पृशानस्य तलन्रे वापि गृह्नत:,न वध: पुरुषेन्द्रस्यथ संयुगेष्वपलायिन: । जब अधिरथपुत्र कर्ण अपने धनुषकी प्रत्यंचाका स्पर्श कर रहा हो अथवा दस्ताने पहन चुका हो, उस समय कोई पुरुष उसके सामने नहीं ठहर सकता था। सम्भव है यह पृथ्वी चन्द्रमा और सूर्यकी प्रकाशमयी किरणोंसे वंचित हो जाय, परंतु युद्धमें पीठ न दिखानेवाले पुरुषशिरोमणि कर्णके वधकी कदापि सम्भावना नहीं थी
vaishampāyana uvāca | pratīpam abhidhāvaddhiḥ ki punaḥ tāta pāṇḍavaiḥ | sañjaya, yaḥ gāṇḍīva-dhanuṣaḥ chūṭitaiḥ bāṇaiḥ āghātasya tanikam api aparvā kṛtvā ‘kṛṣṇe, adya tvaṃ patihīnā bhaviṣyasi’ iti vadann iva kuntīputrān prati avalokayat; yaś ca svabāhubala-viśvāsāt kadācit dve ghaṭike api putra-sahitaḥ pāṇḍavān bhagavantaṃ śrīkṛṣṇaṃ ca na bibheti sma | tāta, yadi śatrupakṣāt indra-sahitaḥ sarve devā api dhāveran, tair api karṇasya vadhe viśvāsaṃ kartum ahaṃ na śaknomi; pāṇḍavās tu kim eva | na hi jyāṃ saṃspṛśānasyāpi talatraṃ vāpi gṛhṇataḥ, na vadhaḥ puruṣendrasya tathā saṃyugeṣv apalāyinaḥ | pṛthivī candrasūryayoḥ prakāśamayībhyaḥ kiraṇebhyo ’pi vañcitā syāt, kintu raṇe pṛṣṭhaṃ na darśayataḥ puruṣaśiromaṇeḥ karṇasya vadhaḥ kadācid api na sambhāvyaḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: “He rushed straight against the foe—how much more, dear one, against the Pāṇḍavas? Sañjaya, he who, caring not in the least for the blows of arrows released from the Gāṇḍīva, looked toward Kuntī’s sons as though declaring, ‘Kṛṣṇa, today you will be without a husband’; and he who, trusting in the strength of his own arms, never for even a brief while feared the Pāṇḍavas together with their sons, nor even Lord Śrī Kṛṣṇa. Dear one, even if all the gods with Indra at their head were to charge from the enemy’s side, I could not bring myself to believe that they could slay Karṇa—what then to say of the Pāṇḍavas? For when that lord among men was touching the bowstring or even taking up his arm-guard, no one could stand before him; the earth might be deprived of the radiant rays of the moon and sun, but the death of Karṇa—the jewel of men who never turned his back in battle—seemed impossible.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights the warrior ideal of steadfastness—never turning one’s back in battle—while also exposing the ethical danger of overconfidence. It sets up narrative irony: even the mightiest, praised as ‘unslayable,’ can fall when dharma, circumstance, and destiny converge.
Vaiśampāyana describes Karṇa’s fearlessness and reputed invincibility: he disregards Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva arrows, taunts Kṛṣṇa with the threat of widowhood, and is portrayed as so formidable that even the gods with Indra seem insufficient to kill him—emphasizing the shock and significance of his eventual downfall.