Shloka 22
कर्ण बोला--वासव! मेरे कवच और कुण्डल लेकर आप मुझे अपनी वह अमोघ शक्ति प्रदान कीजिये जो सेनाके अग्रभागमें शत्रुसमुदायका संहार करनेवाली है ।। ततः संचिन्त्य मनसा मुहूर्तमिव वासव: । शक््त्यर्थ पृथिवीपाल कर्ण वाक्यमथाब्रवीत्,राजन! तब इन्द्रने शक्तिके विषयमें दो घड़ी-तक मन-ही-मन विचार करके कर्णसे इस प्रकार कहा--
Karṇa uvāca— Vāsava! mama kavaca-kuṇḍale gṛhītvā tvaṁ me tāṁ amoghāṁ śaktiṁ pradāhi yā senāyāḥ agrabhāge śatru-samūhasya saṁhāra-kāriṇī. Tataḥ sañcintya manasā muhūrtam iva Vāsavaḥ śakty-artham pṛthivī-pāla Karṇa-vākyam athābravīt—
Karna said, “O Vāsava (Indra)! Take my armor and earrings, and in return grant me that unfailing spear-power which, at the very front of the army, can destroy the massed ranks of enemies.” Then Vāsava, reflecting inwardly for what seemed a moment, spoke to Karna—O king—concerning that weapon-power.
कर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical tension between heroic generosity (dāna) and strategic self-preservation: Karna is willing to surrender life-protecting gifts for a weapon of decisive power, showing how vows of giving and the pursuit of victory can collide with personal safety and broader dharma.
Karna addresses Indra (in disguise in the wider episode) and proposes an exchange: he will give his divine armor and earrings if Indra grants him an infallible śakti capable of annihilating enemy forces at the battlefront. Indra then pauses to consider and begins to respond about the śakti.