Shloka 34
Nara-Nārāyaṇa Precedent and Bhīṣma’s Counsel on Kṛṣṇa–Arjuna; Karṇa’s Reply
यदयं कत्थते नित्यं हन्ताहं पाण्डवानिति । नायं कलापि सम्पूर्णा पाण्डवानां महात्मनाम्,“राजन! यह कर्ण जो प्रतिदिन यह डींग हाँका करता है कि मैं पाण्डवोंको मार डालूगा, वह व्यर्थ है। मेरी रायमें यह महात्मा पाण्डवोंकी सोलहवीं कलाके बराबर भी नहीं है
yad ayaṁ katthate nityaṁ hantāhaṁ pāṇḍavān iti | nāyaṁ kalāpi sampūrṇā pāṇḍavānāṁ mahātmanām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “As for this man who constantly boasts, ‘I will kill the Pāṇḍavas,’ it is empty talk. In my judgment, he is not even equal to a sixteenth part of those great-souled Pāṇḍavas.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse critiques empty bravado: moral and practical worth is measured by proven excellence and character, not by repeated boasts. It implicitly warns that pride and loud claims in a dharmic conflict do not substitute for true capability and nobility.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war setting, Vaiśampāyana reports a judgment about Karṇa’s habitual claim that he will kill the Pāṇḍavas, dismissing it as futile talk and asserting that Karṇa does not match even a small fraction of the Pāṇḍavas’ greatness.